Could JUNO Be the Best Picture of the Year?
Thomas on January 2nd, 2008
Find out why some people are calling JUNO the best picture of the year! Critics from media outlets both large and small weigh in on Jason Reitman's latest -- see below.
Meanwhile, JUNO is spreading across the country -- playing on over 1900 screens this weekend!
"THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR. How can I choose this warm-hearted comedy about a pregnant teenager, when the year was rich with serious drama? I tried out other titles in the No. 1 position, but my heart told me I had to be honest: This was my true love, and I could not be unfaithful. It is so hard to make a great comedy at all, and harder still to make one that is intelligent, quick, charming, moving and yes, very, very funny. It begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and it ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love. It is so very rare to sit with an audience that leans forward with delight and is in step with every turn and surprise of an uncommonly intelligent screenplay. It is so rare to hear laughter that is surprised, unexpected and delighted. So rare to hear it coming during moments of recognition, when characters reflect exactly what we’d be thinking, just a moment before we get around to thinking it. So rare to feel the audience joined into one warm, shared enjoyment. So rare to hear a movie applauded."
– Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN TIMES
"A funny, savvy, feel-good comedy that reminds you why you fell in love with movies in the first place."
– Kirk Honeycutt, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"As entertaining as it gets. 'Juno' is hilarious and sweet-tempered, perceptive and surprisingly grounded. It's also a gust of fresh air."
– Carina Chocano, LA TIMES
“* * * * (out of four)”
– Dan Jewel, LA WEEKLY
"Juno' is a pure charmer and a heartfelt original, an enormously satisfying and rewarding trip to the movies. This is a terrific and richly original comedy that is like no other this year. Ellen Page is wonderful and so is the entire cast. 'Juno' may not be as big or high profile as a lot of the holiday movies but we GUARATEE this is the one you will be telling your friends about."
- Pete Hammond, MAXIM
"Indie film gusto, audience appeal, ripe batch of characters and Oscar potential... The feel-good movie of the season."
– Jack Mathews, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
“4 stars. 'Juno' represents an almost magical configuration of very talented people with very much the same brand of whipsaw humor. Ms. Page... has received notices likening her emerging performance to that of Audrey Hepburn in William Wyler’s 'Roman Holiday' (1953), and the parallel drawn is no exaggeration. 'Nuff said."
– Andrew Sarris, NEW YORK OBSERVER
"4 stars. I’ve been smitten with 'Juno' since I first laid eyes on it. Watching it twice more in the past week, I’m even more bowled over by Ellen Page’s pitch-perfect performance, Diablo Cody’s hilarious, big-hearted script and Jason Reitman’s sure-footed direction."
– Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST
"Surprising delicacy and emotional depth. The snappy one-liners are a brilliant distraction, Ms. Cody's way of clearing your throat for the lump you're likely to find there in the movie's last scenes."
– A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES
"'Juno' is a coming-of-age movie made with idiosyncratic charm and not a single false note."
– David Denby, NEW YORKER
"Ellen Page is simply sensational in this marvelously offbeat comedy, which is sheer joy from beginning to end."
– Dennis Dermody, PAPER
"A whip-smart screenplay by Diablo Cody, super sharp direction by Jason Reitman and a peak-performing cast ought to make this film-festival favorite the year's Little Miss Sunshine-size surprise."
– Stephen Rebello, PLAYBOY MAGAZINE
"'Juno' is hip and hilarious and will make you laugh deeply."
- Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
"A zingy script by Diablo Cody and fantastic performances all around."
– Melissa Anderson, TIME OUT NEW YORK
"4 stars. A charming, honest and terrifically acted film that bristles with vitality and heart."
– Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
"4 stars. A charming and funny film that could be this year’s 'Little Miss Sunshine.'"
– Thelma Adams, US WEEKLY
"A thing of beauty and grace -- 'JUNO' is a perfect movie."
– Robert Wilonsky, VILLAGE VOICE
"A wonderful coming-of-age comedy filled with wit and warmth"
– Joe Morgenstern, WALL STREET JOURNAL
"One of my favorite films of the year and one that's destined to become a classic"
– Richard Roeper, AT THE MOVIES WITH EBERT & ROEPER
"JUNO is the best film of the year by a mile."
– Neil Miller, FILM SCHOOL REJECTS.COM
"That smart, hip, human comedy you've been waiting for all year? The one with the dialogue like a sugar rush and performances like grace notes. It's called 'Juno' and it just arrived in theatres. Go forth and multiplex."
– Ty Burr, THE BOSTON GLOBE
"An improbably endearing comedy. 'Juno' is the rarity that plucks your heartstrings while tickling them."
– Carrie Rickey, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
"4 out of 4 stars. 'Juno' is this year’s 'Little Miss Sunshine,' the quirky, unlikely sleeper hit that succeeds not with a Cast of millions, or a Brangelina-ish name above the title, or with CGI effects that blast you out of your seat and implant a permanent buzzing in your ears, but with a confluence of perfection in every aspect of the film."
– David Weigand, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"A superb new cast of believable characters, it transcends its own genre."
– Desson Thomson, THE WASHINGTON POST