Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

I’ve been scratching my head over the quirky, indy film darlings of the last few years. I’m not head-over-heels for Napoleon Dynamite. I don’t get what’s loveable about Little Miss Sunshine. Surely I’m capable of getting into outsider-ish humor with heart.

Finally, I can at least say that I enjoyed one of these movies enough to recommend it. Is Juno Best Picture nomination good? No.

But for me, the purity of Jennifer Garner’s performance puts it over the top. She made her character, the woman adopting Juno’s baby, the one I latched onto. She’s the one I still remember.

And I’m an Arrested Development fan. And I love the smarty pants teenage girl genre (Buffy, Veronica Mars, Joan of Arcadia). I’ve been enjoying Diablo Cody’s Entertainment Weekly column long before I saw this movie.

All those factors should have led me to love this movie. But I don’t.

The movie is filled with many top-notch performances, but Jennifer Garner really comes through. Normally, I’m rolling my eyes at the type of character she played. Instead, she almost managed to kick start my maternal clock. Almost.

Tags: Movies //