I finally got around to watching Juno with Kim. Oddly enough, I hadn’t heard of the movie when it first appeared in theaters and one of my coworkers, whom I chatted with on occasion, came into my office beaming that if there was anything I should see, it should be Juno.

After listening to Joan talk about Juno like it was the second coming and how the soundtrack was nothing but spectacular, I did what I could to get into the mood and picked up the soundtrack minutes after she left my office. I gave it a listen and while I enjoyed it, I just couldn’t see how any of the songs would be the perfect fit for a movie about a teenager getting pregnant and the trials and tribulations of handing her baby over to a newly broken home. Within minutes of starting Juno and realizing that they had blown through the majority of the soundtrack before the movie even got rolling, I saw what Joan meant by it being a perfect soundtrack for this movie. It was quite a strange realization that early on but for whatever reason it clicked.

As the movie progressed my mind started wandering, especially during the parts that I had to pause it and walk away almost in agony over the uncomfortable moments that seemed almost as common as when I watch The Riches, I began to realize that there was absolutely no way that this was filmed on location in Minnesota. Not that I don’t understand that plenty of films are not shot where the story is set, I just would have liked to have seen some of the locations mentioned in the film be what they were claiming they were rather than the suburbs of Vancouver.

Anyway, the first dead giveaway was the lack of any noticeable amount of snow during the “Winter” portion. Yes, our winters have been more mild due to the cycle of weather but there is definitely more than a dusting littering the ground in what appeared to be late spring (this year especially) with fake snow made from portable snow making machines from the nearby ski resort. The second and most obvious mistake was the ending sequence when Juno rides her bike down a tree lined street, in full bloom — which only happens in early spring here before the sun fries everything to a nice dead brown crisp — in a cute neighborhood with yards proudly cared for with an abundant array of flower beds.

Now, many of you might question why I would bring this up as something that made it obvious to me that it wasn’t Minnesota but being that we’re both transplants, we noticed the utter lack of many well manicured lawns with gorgeous flower beds filled with colorful flowers. As Kim and I explore our surroundings, she can never get over the fact that no one seems to spend hours upon hours digging, planting and allow their gardens to flourish and attract the attention of those passing by. Why is it that those who spend time gardening are so rare here in Minnesota? Is it because the winters last so long and start so early or is it because we have other things to do in the Metro that don’t include spending time beautifying our homes? Kim and I don’t have the ability to beautify our home the way she would probably like and I’m sure that once we do, we’ll be too busy with other things to garden for hours on end like I remember my mother and father doing growing up but I was wondering what everyone else thought. Do you garden and why/why not?

Back to the movie… We enjoyed it. I like movies that have minuscule budgets and well written scripts. I also like actors that can act — this movie had both. I was really impressed with Ellen Page and wondered how many takes she had to do for some of her lines. How she was able to say the hysterically dry things she did with a straight face blows my mind. Even when I am parched I sometimes have to smile after a daring line comes out of my mouth usually at the expense of some unsuspecting comedy victim. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’d buy the movie but I will be watching it again tomorrow afternoon with Josh (he wants to see it) so maybe I will see the utter genius that Joan did months ago when she came into my office to rave about Juno.

Related posts:

1. Lots of Driving… In Snow!
2. Longest Stretch of Being Awake Since College
3. Unnecessary but Welcome Snow Day
4. Chris Sheehan Published in the SmokeLong Quarterly