The nominees for the Writers Guild of America:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Juno", Written by Diablo Cody
"Michael Clayton", Written by Tony Gilroy
"The Savages", Written by Tamara Jenkins
"Knocked Up", Written by Judd Apatow
"Lars and the Real Girl", Written by Nancy Oliver
My pick: "Michael Clayton"
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"No Country for Old Men", Screenplay by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
"There Will Be Blood", Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"Into the Wild", Screenplay by Sean Penn
"Zodiac", Screenplay by James Vanderbilt
My pick: Having not seen "Blood" and "Butterfly", my choice is "Zodiac"
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
"The Camden 28", Written by Anthony Giacchino, First Run Features
"Nanking", Screenplay by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman & Elisabeth Bentley, Story by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman
"No End in Sight", Written by Charles Ferguson, Magnolia Pictures
"The Rape of Europa", Written by Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham and Bonni Cohen
"Sicko", Written by Michael Moore
"Taxi to the Dark Side", Written by Alex Gibney
My Pick: "No End in Sight"
The dialogue in Jason Reitman's "Juno" crackles with a sardonic earnestness that is filled to the brim with pop cultural references, a sly intelligence, and humorous colloquialisms that are endearing and oddly relatable. At times it is too cutesy and self-consciously yearns to say something about the meh generation that has developed a patois of sentences punctuated with "dude", "totally", and "nuh-uh", but luckily the actors saying the lines are so good that it becomes less of an annoyance and an opportunity for some memorable moments. Here is my favorite scene from the film in which Juno (Ellen Page) confronts her baby's daddy, Bleeker (Michael Cera), about his plans for prom:
INT. DANCING ELK SCHOOL - BLEEKER’S LOCKER - DAY
Bleeker retrieves a book from his open locker. Juno marches up to him, belly leading the way.
Are you honestly and truly going to
prom with Katrina De Voort
BLEEKER
Um, hi?
JUNO
Leah just told me you were going with her.
BLEEKER
Yeah, I did ask her if she wanted
to go. A bunch of us from the team
are going to Benihana, then the
prom, then Vijay’s parents’ cabin.
Juno is clearly AFFRONTED.
(meekly)
We’re getting a stretch limo.
JUNO
Your mom must be really glad you’re not taking me.
BLEEKER
You’re mad. Why are you mad?
JUNO
I’m not mad. I’m in a fucking great
mood. Despite the fact that I’m
trapped in a fat suit I can’t take
off, despite the fact that everyone
is making fun of me behind my back,
despite the fact that your little
girlfriend gave me the stinkeye in
art class yesterday...
BLEEKER
Katrina’s not my girlfriend! And I
doubt she was actually giving you
the stinkeye. She just looks like
that all the time.
A GIRL strides past (obviously KATRINA) with a sour look aimed squarely at Juno.
Whatever. Have fun at the prom with
Soupy Sales. I’m sure I can think
of something way more cool to do
that night. Like I could pumice my feet, or go
to Bren’s dumb Unitarian church, or
get hit by a ten-ton truck full of
hot garbage juice. All those things
would be exponentially cooler than
going to the prom with you.
She starts to walk away. Bleeker takes a deep breath.
You’re being really immature.
JUNO
(turning around)
What?
Bleeker BRACES himself and pushes up his lab goggles.
That’s not how our thing works! I
hurl the accusations and you talk
me down, remember?
BLEEKER
Not this time. You don’t have any
reason to be mad at me. You broke
my heart. I should be royally
ticked at you, man. I should be
really cheesed off. I shouldn’t
want to talk to you anymore.
JUNO
Why? Because I got bored and had
sex with you one day, and then I
didn’t, like, marry you?
BLEEKER
Like I’d marry you! You would be the
meanest wife of all time. And anyway,
I know you weren’t bored that day
because there was a lot of stuff on
TV. The Blair Witch Project was on
Starz, and you were like, “Oh, I want
to watch this, but we should make out
instead. La la la.”
JUNO
Forget it, Bleek. Take Katrina the
Douche Packer to the prom. I’m sure
you guys will have a really
bitchin’ time!
BLEEKER
(searching for a comeback)
Yeah, well...I still have your underwear.
JUNO
I still have your virginity!
BLEEKER
(looking around, panicked)
Oh my God, SHUT UP!
JUNO
What? Are you ashamed that we did it?
BLEEKER
No...
JUNO
Well at least you don’t have to walk around
with the evidence under your sweater. I’m a planet!
Juno picks up her BACKPACK dejectedly and slides it over her shoulder. She’s about to walk away, when...
Wait, let me take that.
JUNO
Huh?
BLEEKER
You shouldn’t be carrying that heavy bag. I’ll take it.
JUNO
Oh. It’s fine. What’s another ten pounds?
She turns around, wipes TEARS off her cheek (making sure no one sees) and continues down the hallway.
3 comments:
ugh, i LOVED that scene. it makes such a good point about the girl having to live the with consequences of a bad decision for the world to see while the guy can just move right along if he feels so inclined, but in this case, he doesn't feel so inclined because he wants to be there with her but she's put up too much of a tough, smart-ass front to let him. love it, love it.
I see you picked up patois from mr. ruffalo. ;)
ok, am i the ONLY person in the world who thought juno was a tad overrated?
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