Film reviews
Men In Black 3
It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.
Bel Ami
The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.
The Dictator
A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.
The Woman In Black
Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.
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Juno (Film)
Country: USA
Cast: Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Alison Janney, Ellen Page
Film Worth: $13.50
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worthSixteen-year-old pipsqueak firebrand Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is pregnant to her nebbish and passive best friend Paulie (Michael Cera); furthermore, she's decided to keep the baby and adopt it out to the bourgeois Vanessa and Mark (Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman), who she found in the classifieds.
Welcome to the world of Diablo Cody's hyper-real, too-cool-for-school screenplay for Juno, which comes accompanied by artful set pieces and visual stylings from director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking). Wise, cutting and sweet, this film is either effortless or try-hard in its endearing precociousness; a humourless minority will hate its too-clever voice but, for the rest of us, the film is sweetly funny, emerging after a whippy hour-and-a-half as organically quirky. Its contrived mannerisms and language, and its hipster soundtrack (The Moldy Peaches, Cat Power, Belle & Sebastian) are all assets to the film's message, and the casting is inspired in its curiousness. Both Cera (a certifiable comic genius) and Page (the next Rachel McAdams or Sarah Polley) are genuine future stars, but it's the familiar television actors who show up in subversive roles which make the film such a rounded treat. The West Wing's Alison Janney and J.K. Simmons (Oz) play Juno's long-suffering, loving and very Canadian parents, while the never-better Garner (Alias) and Bateman (Arrested Development) are daggy, dysfunctional WASPs of the highest order.
All the elements align seamlessly to paint Juno's world with a heavy coat of surrealism, filled with twisted approximations of people and places that we know and love, which in turn creates the most welcome of head trips (thought-provoking but languid), ultimately leaving a dreamy resin of warmth and humour long after the kitschy-but-cool credits roll.
