The Cheshire Cat Slinks Down RESERVATION ROAD And Stops At JUNO!!

Merrick here...
Here's The Cheshire Cat with a look at RESERVATION ROAD [TRAILER] and [TRAILER]. JUNO looks pretty cool...feels like it has a nice tone. I'm still undecided on RESERVATION ROAD.
Here's The Cheshire Cat...

Reservation Road One word defines this film for me: almost. It almost had it. It almost got its point across to me. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo’s characters ALMOST touched my heart. But unfortunately, as is usually the case with the word almost, they did not. Reservation Road is a film by Terry George, director of a little film called Hotel Rwanda, and has a pretty interesting cast including the aforementioned Phoenix, Ruffalo, as well as Jennifer Connelly, the wonderful Elle Fanning, and coming right out of left field, Mira Sorvino (where has she been?) Unfortunately this cast cannot save what is ultimately a film that missed some important opportunities, due to the director. Ethan (Phoenix) and his family are driving home from their 10-year-old son’s recital while Dwight (Ruffalo) and his 10-year-old son are driving home from a Red Sox baseball game. In a scene that was handled pretty well, Ethan’s son gets out of the car at a gas station when Dwight is bringing his SUV quickly around a bend. The SUV hits and kills Ethan’s son. Dwight takes a moment and then quickly speeds off, Ethan only barely getting a glimpse of his face. Determined to find his son’s killer, Ethan calls the police and an investigation ensues. Throughout the movie various twists and turns happen ultimately putting both Ethan and Dwight together. Dwight is a lawyer dealing with the painful divorce of his wife Mira Sorvino and spends as much of his time with his son. He is hired, against his will, to give legal counsel to Ethan, as Ethan has not yet figured out that Dwight was his son’s killer. Various other things like this happen with plenty of great moments. Plenty of great lead up. But with very few payoffs. Again we come back to that key word: almost. The problem lies in a few areas. I’ll start with the camera. The camera barely ever enters a close up, and forget seeing anything one would consider an extreme close up. This film is shot from a distance, to its fault. There is one scene in particular that comes to mind. Jennifer Connolley, who plays Ethan’s wife, is having a breakdown as she feels it is her fault that their son is dead. Screaming and crying, followed by smashing and then hugging make up what could have been a brilliant scene. BUT, the camera stays back, the whole scene is covered from a mid shot, and therefore, we never get in close to what’s going on. We never feel as if we are a part of their suffering, as we are just watching it from a distance, as if it were a stage play. In the end of the film, both main characters are supposed to go through some enormous changes. I’m not going to go into exact detail, but I didn’t feel those changes. It can’t really be explained too well without seeing the film or giving away the ending, but lets just say that Terry George’s choices for how to direct his actors left something to be desired. When I saw Hotel Rwanda, I remember being very impressed and very moved. But it left nothing more to be desired. I had no need to ever go back and watch it again. That’s exactly how I feel here, but I’m almost upset over it. This story had so much potential in it that in the hands of a different director, could have been something amazing. Instead we get… almost. Juno One of the best films I’ve seen this year. Period. This is the story of a girl named Juno (no, not like the city) played by the wonderful Ellen Page (X-Men 3, Hard Candy), directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking), and written by new girl on the block, Diablo Cody. It has an incredible cast including Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby and J.K. Simmons. Juno is 16. Juno is a junior in high school. Junior is pregnant with Paulie Bleeker’s (Michael Cera) child. Juno is your typical apathetic teenager of today’s market. I had some friends that didn’t believe the way she and other people in this film were talking. But I have a 17 year old brother and have heard he and his friends speak almost exactly the way kids do in this movie. And for that alone, I commend Diablo Cody for nailing today’s teenage youth. This film is filled with glorious lines such as, “For shiz?” And, “Truth to blog?” The brilliance of this dialog and way of presenting oneself is apparent when we see the situation that Juno is having to deal with: pregnancy. She is dealing with a very adult situation but still has the mind and lingo of a child. She wishes she could just squirt the thing on out. Juno decides to keep her baby and give it to a couple she finds in the pennysaver, played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. I really don’t want to give much more of the plot away, as this film is so good, you should really experience the ups and downs on screen. But I can talk about what this film is about. This film is about being young. This film is about being young and being thrust into an adult situation against your will. This film is about growing up, but not growing up too fast. It is about learning to do what is right for others. It is about SO many things! This film is HYSTERICAL. If you like Thank You For Smoking, if you like Arrested Development, hell, if you just like good, well written comedy, you’ll love this movie. The awkward teenage interactions feel like they took a page right out of my high school diary. It is eerie how realistic this script can be at times, and because of that, rings so true, and is therefore funny. Everything from the interaction between parent and child, hospital and pregnant girl, boyfriend and girlfriend, best friends, teacher and student, student and student, is handled with a poise and preciseness I would expect from a greatly experienced writer. But alas! We have a first time and soon to be star writer Diablo Cody, a beautiful woman and an even more beautiful wordstress. I hope to see more films written by this explosion of talent very soon. Ellen Page is a superb actress. If you haven’t seen Hard Candy, do yourself a favor and rent it NOW. That twisted film will have you feeling things you didn’t think you could feel. And she only steps it up another notch with her performance as Juno. Michael Cera returns from Superbad fame again and completely knocks it out of the park. His timing is impeccable and his performance is perfection itself. This kid is the funniest guy in showbiz today. This review may sound like one big ramble. But that is because there are so many good things going on in this movie that it is all bursting out of my brain right now. This heartwarming film takes me back to a time where, just like Juno, I didn’t even know what the term sexually active meant. It’s about confusion and understanding. It’s about growing up but staying a child at heart. It’s about love. I loved Juno. I hope you do too.