You gotta hand it to her: Diablo Cody, the Minnesota blogger/stripper/tattooed raconteur turned Hollywood screenwriter, has a way with words. At last night's sneak preview of "Juno," her new motormouthed teen-pregnancy comedy opening tonight at the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis, she answered questions from the fawning Walker Art Center audience with the same kind of in-your-face frankness that earned her screenplay a Golden Globe nomination the same day.
Did she ever worry about pregnancy when she was a teen, someone asked. "No," she quickly replied. "I always double-bagged it." And she ain't talking about her groceries, folks. Outfitted in leopard-print jacket and pants baggy enough to hide her sneakers, Cody offered up her favorite Minneapolis strip club (the Seville), suggested she wasn't quite sober, and offered insights--because so many people asked--into the movie's lovable young co-star, Michael Cera. "I think he's pretty much hairless," she said.
In Hollywood, where images are crafted as carefully as the films, Cody is refreshing: She's always 100 percent honest and upfront, she says. (So if she's lying--about that, or the claim that she wrote "Juno" mostly in the cafe of the Target in Crystal--we'd never know.) What's interesting is how refreshing this insistence on frankness comes across onscreen, in the lead character, who cuts to the conversational chase with a fearlessness that makes almost every other screenplay this season seem belabored. It's clear why Cody has come this far: Nothing's funnier or more winning than a smart chick who tells it like it is. The only worry, over time, is that it's wearing. Life isn't one big strip club, after all, where we all lay mutual goals--getting paid or getting off--clearly on the table. It calls for discretion, once in awhile. The best thing about "Juno" is that it knows when to slow down and get vulnerable.
So is "Juno" worth the hype? As the lead would say, hell's yeah. But the movie strikes me as a "Garden State"--a surprising, singular vision, with great stars. It's probably even better, despite a few less-than-convincing scenes, with more tension and a more satisfying twist. It's still a small film, and I don't feel a need to see it again in order to bite off more. I got it, and it was tastier than I expected. Ultimately it's more about Cody's philosophy of forthrightness--that honesty is not only the best policy, but funny as hell. And like anything else shocking, it loses something with repetition.
(Photo of Diablo Cody: Cameron Wittig for Walker Art Center)
Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
It's like I'm the S. Fox of this blog -- I ask for an entry, and you say 'how long? on what topic?'
TG, great review. I feel like you could appreciate the film for what it is (teenage sass x 10) while keeping the hype in check.
By the way, I always thought that for a piece to include hairlessness and double bagging to appear under the MnMo banner I'd have to do it myself. Not so anymore!
Not to bite off more, but just because I liked it that much.
The only thing is, I don't know if all smart chicks totally appreciate the label "chick."
I'll see it again - I'll own it. If only (and it's not) because I missed so many lines due to the loud laughter of the almost S.O. crowd at the Uptown yesterday.
Loved every minute of it - the city vs. suburban landscape, the moms in their Christmas sweatshirts and fake turtlenecks, the shout out to Ridgedale Mall - So funny, so true!
I saw the movie last night with MW, CM, and RH. We all thought it was pretty boss.
If I see that Bleeker kid I'm going to punch him in the wiener!!
In her Walker Q&A last week, Cody rattled off a few upcoming projects, including the writing of Steven Spielberg's new Showtime series, "The United States of Tara" (well, after the writers strike is over), and a horror movie. Horror, she says, is her favorite genre. Too bad it's my least favorite. Still, it's obvious she's simply interested in telling a good story--with maximum bluntness.