The best decision Reitman made as a director was to have Cody closely involved in the production process from start-to-finish. She was on the set regularly, consulted on everything from tweaking dialog to set design to costuming, because Reitman felt that this script was so much Cody’s that she had to be involved.

A lot of directors would have shut the screenwriter out and made something completely different out of it; Reitman loved the script and he wanted to keep that vision intact, and while some folks love to hate on JUNO, it’s certainly resonated for a lot of people.

One contribution Reitman did make that shifted things (for the better, IMO) was the arc of Jason Bateman’s character, who was not originally conceived to be quite as much of a choad.

That flip in Juno realizing that Mark’s “coolness” is really just an inability (or lack of any desire) to grow up, and that Vanessa perhaps isn’t quite the uptight bitch she’d perceived her to be, is one of the best parts of the storyline.

Anyway, the best thing I’ve ever read about the mystery of the job of directing is the chapter titled The Alchemists in Peter Bart and Peter Guber’s book Shoot Out. Check it out if you haven’t already.

The director’s job is so elusive and almost subjective that it can cause the strange kind of discussion we are having here. No other job can cause anything like this.

Cassavetes (whom i consider the greatest director we have known) absolutely refused (most of the time) to help the actors with their roles in any way we think a director should help an actor. John Ford never looked in the camera. Welles has said, without trying to be funny, that the director is the least important person on the set.

It almost seems like whatever we think a director should do, there is evidence somewhere of an indisputably great director NOT doing that.

Even though i agree that Reitman does not deserve the nomination, I argued because i thought your reasons for also thinking this were the wrong reasons. Now, after reading your second posting, I see that we are in agreement. But I, for fun, would like to play devils advocate here and say that maybe simply because Reitman didn’t mess it up (meaning the “great” script and the “great” performance by Page and others) that perhaps this is why he deserves the nomination. Maybe being a great director is found in the art of getting out of the way.

Personally, I do think Juno is a pretty good film, more than many other bloggers (especially my colleague on this site), but I can’t figure out if the parts I do love about it are more Diablo Cody’s writing or Reitman’s handling of her script. Some of my favor regards certain aspects of tone and theme that could very well have been in the script, or it could have worked because of the performances, or how well Reitman directed that writing and/or those performances.

I couldn’t care less about “cool shots” — I haven’t cared about them since I did my own back in film production class long ago. Many of the directors who I think deserve more credit are those who do not have a particularly recognizable visual style (or even non-stylish “cool shots”).

But I still don’t see where Reitman’s directing is Oscar-worthy, and I wish that he could defend his contribution better here. I think that he intentionally is defending badly in order to make fun of himself and his reception as an Oscar-nominated director. Still, I want to know, because as far as the big picture is concerned, a lot of what seems to be his contribution is in the vein of many other modern comedy filmmakers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t prove him to be the one deserving of this recognition.

Thank you for getting mad, though, Peter. We all need to defend ourselves sometimes. Here’s my attempt.

I suppose you think that because Juno doesn’t have “cool shots” that it didn’t have an oscar worthy director at its helm. Because “cool shots” are the sign of a good director. I assume you feel that the directors of Little Miss Sunshine also did nothing? that their oscar non-nomonation was justified? Even though they were nomonated for a DGA award. Perhaps I am presuming too much about you, and if so, I challenge you to tell us all what you think makes a great director.