Faux-Indie Paradise

There's been a lot of love on this blog recently, what with my favorite albums and songs of the year. Now it's time for a little hate. Well, not so much hate as mild disapproval and confusion over the hype, because I am anti...

Juno. I really should have gone with my gut on this one. When I saw the preview in a movie theater, something just didn't sit right. Getting a little taste of the snarky dialogue and the precious soundtrack, I forgot where I was and actually said aloud "wow, that is trying way too hard," which got me a dirty look from the person next to me. I soon forgot about this, though, when I saw the critical adoration that's been lavished on the film. Being a slave to authority, I went and saw it, and tried desperately to enjoy it. I really did want to like it. I failed.

Juno is not in any way a real person. No sixteen year old acts, thinks, or sounds like her. And I know it's the movies, but this gets obnoxious pretty quickly. Her character, and the movie as a whole, is stuffed full of prepackaged quirkiness and eccentricity just for the hell of it. A hamburger phone? (It wasn't enough just to show it, either; she had to inform a person at one point that she was using it.) A baby half-sister named Liberty Bell? An ending in which the characters insist on singing the entirety of a duet to one another that we've heard throughout the film? Jesus Christ. Good thing there aren't any black people (or any other color besides white for that matter) around so that the characters can use ridiculous urban slang in an ironic and slightly derisive way. The name-dropping (while admittedly good names) gets old almost instantaneously. Oh, look at me, my favorite song is a Sonic Youth cover of The Carpenters. Kill yourself.

I know I'm full of haterade, but I'll concede that there are fun parts, and if you can suspend your disbelief with the characters and the situation, some of the dialogue is enjoyably witty. Michael Cera and Jason Bateman will always be funny. There's even some feeling during the second part of the movie, but most of it stems from the great performance turned in from Jennifer Garner. In the end, though, this movie is the film equivalent of an Urban Outfitters. You'll find things you like and that are worthwhile, but it's hard to get over the fact that it's a commercialized product trying to pass itself off as indie, off-beat, and at times, so lame that it's cool. Except it's not cool, it's actually just lame.

I don't like to end on such a bitter note, so I'll just quickly tell you what I am pro...

Control. Awesome, awesome film. The acting is so fantastic you think you're watching a documentary most of the time. Everyone already knows the ending, but it stays engrossing to the finale nonetheless. Though one might be worried about the music taking center stage, the soundtrack is used to perfection and never drowns out the narrative arc of the story. Tony Kebbell as Rob Gretton, Joy Division/New Order manager, steals every scene he's in. Sam Riley is a revelation as Curtis, and all the actors playing the band do a fantastic and faithful reproduction of Joy Division's songs. (Although, as my friend Jose noted, it's not terribly difficult to do a half-decent Ian Curtis impression.) For the record, the scene where Curtis walks to the employment agency is probably my favorite movie moment of the year. So yeah. This is a good movie.