![]() ![]() This means it is gritty, shocking and unpleasant to watch at many points.īut it also boasts another admirable performance from Ellen Page, whilst telling an incredible story. In this small-budget drama which opened on only one screen and wasn’t released in the UK until 2008, Ellen Page plays teenage runaway Sherry, who takes up with a rather dodgy cult.Īlthough this may not sound appealing, this film is everything a film about a cult should be (or, in other words, everything Martha Marcy May Marlene wasn’t). The completed sequence was as time-consuming to make as the entire shooting stage of Juno. The perfect place to find this is the audio commentary on the DVD, which features Cody, Reitman and Page).įor the opening credits Ellen Page walked on a treadmill. (Heads up: if you’ve already watched Juno anything like as many times as I have, you might appreciate some geeky trivia. The narrative is certainly a lot more mature than some of the humour, but as a whole Juno is a well-balanced movie. You’ll be hard-pushed to find a film that provides more laughs or sharply-drawn amusing characters than this one, whilst also tugging at a few heartstrings. This is also largely due to Ellen Page’s performance as the titular Juno MacGuff, a hilarious, sardonic and unapologetically opinionated 16 year old who falls pregnant after sleeping with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (the likeable but less than fabulous Michael Cera in an early performance as someone I suspect is just himself). In my opinion, these factors combine to make the finished film one of the best of the last 10 years. If not then you should go away and watch it, then come back and read on.ĭiablo Cody’s breakout screenplay was blacklisted and eventually picked up by Jason Reitman, who The Guardian recently named the 6 th best director in the world. Plus Sarah Jessica Parker, if you can stand her.Ĭhances are that if you’ve seen only one of Ellen Page’s films, it’s this one. As fans may expect, she steals many of her scenes, and is also given the chance to really stand out in a hilarious sub-plot which sees her attempt to seduce her father’s adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church).Īlthough admittedly there isn’t much of a plot this is a touching family drama made up of several brilliant and nuanced performances. Ellen Page is cast in a supporting role as Lawrence’s whip-smart, socially awkward but high-achieving daughter Vanessa. Murro’s film (an impressive debut) follows the life of lecturer Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) and his family. This is an indie, but not nearly as dark or ‘cult’ as many of the other films Page has made (see below). Here’s my top five.Ī good place to start if you’ve already seen Ellen Page in her better known roles but can’t wait for more. ![]() This doesn’t always pay off (I cannot bring myself to recommend The Tracey Fragments, for example), but many of Page’s projects are worth a watch. My admiration for Ellen Page’s prowess as an actress has caused me to watch many relatively unknown films simply because she stars in them. ![]()
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