Every so often, a film from the left field of the American movie industry has critics and cinemagoers alike falling over themselves to garnish it with praise and, very often, awards.
Last year Little Miss Sunshine scooped two Oscars - best actor for Alan Arkin and best original screenplay – unprecedented for a film with a budget of just ₤8million and no major stars.
In 2008, Diablo Coby’s Juno looks set to be the surprise hit of the season, having made an appearance in almost every top ten list of the past few months.
Telling the story of a 16-year-old who finds herself pregnant by her best friend, Juno is a witty, fragile, perceptive piece of work that says more in 92 minutes than an army of Orks and Hobbits could in more than nine hours.
Ellen Page is the undoubted star, and with a spot hosting Saturday Night Live lined up for next month, she will surely enjoy the dazzling Hollywood limelight for a while longer.
Page’s depiction has been described as spunky, quirky and razor-sharp, but there are subtleties to her performance that go deeper than her delivery of the BAFTA winning script.
She seems to defy the character’s tender years, to the extent that the penultimate, brutal labour scene serves as a jarring reminder that this all-conquering, Stooges-loving tomboy is in fact just a child herself.
Plaudits must also go to the solid supporting cast. Michael Cera and Jason Bateman - reunited after the tragic cancellation of Arrested Development – share low-key, intimate moments with Page, while Allison Janney and J.K Simmons are perfect as Juno’s parents, even more confused and lost than the teen herself.
The Academy Awards may not adorn this sleeper hit on February 24 with so many other great films vying for honours, but it’s a little gem to be cherished in an industry so obsessed with doing things on a grand scale.
Sam Blackledge
First published in Surrey Advertiser Online
1 comment:
I try really hard actually. :)
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