You Know

Titanic came out in 1997. It was a smash, grossing more money than any other film and winning the Best Picture Oscar. It dazzled a lot of people, but, somehow, years later, people felt they'd been had. It wasn't that good. Heck, it wasn't good at all.

This was a backlash I agreed with. But I sense a new one in which I don't wish to participate.

Juno seemed like the small film that could when it came out in 2007. It was a small-budget item with no big names that grossed over $200 million worldwide. If it had made one-tenth as much it would have been considered a success. It was also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

But ever since that first flush of success, it seems all I've heard from various sources is the film isn't that good, not to mention it makes light of teen pregnancy.

You have to recall when this was an independent film knocking about at festivals, audiences naturally took to it. Critics loved it too. When it went into wide release in America, and the world, without a huge promotional budget, and nothing to sell but a charming story, it became a true word-of-mouth hit.

Now maybe everyone was wrong. Maybe they needed a second look to truly understand. But I can't help but think as long as it was an underdog, people took it to their heart. When it became a smash, some were turned off.

I think the film still works. It's far from perfect. Not that deep, maybe a little glib. But that's part of its charm--it takes on a serious subject, but doesn't get bogged down. If the complaint is it's merely entertaining on its surface, I'd say there's something going on underneath, while most films fail at the mere entertainment level.

Juno took off, but it earned its wings.