…Because nothing says funny like teenage pregnancy.
Fifteen year old Juno MacGuff receives a nasty shock one day when she realizes she’s pregnant by her friend Paulie Bleeker. Unable to go through with an abortion, she searches for and finds a couple she feels is suitable enough to adopt her child. When Mark and Vanessa, the prospective parents, begin to fall apart, Juno has to make a tough decision.
I expected to hate Juno. Scratch that, I wanted to hate Juno. From the twee, “I’m so smart it hurts” dialogue in the trailer to Diablo Cody being everywhere all over the place in no time flat, I really wanted to find a reason to dislike this movie.
The dialogue, once you fall into it, is far from “so smart” and delves into sophisticated writing. The actors do a superb job, especially Jennifer Garner, as Vanessa, the “perfect mom”. You can practically feel how badly Garner wants a baby and she and Jason Bateman do a wonderful job as Vanessa and Mark.
Ellen Page deserved her Academy Award nomination and Diablo Cody deserved that win. The eloquent way in which Juno’s father and step-mother handle the news of her pregnancy is so refreshingly unlike anything Hollywood throws at us that it’s nice, for a change, to see something different. Juno’s whip-smart wit does nothing to protect her at her rawest, though, and that’s where the movie really hits home.
I love it.
I’d buy it.
I’m glad this film had all the press and all the coverage it got; it deserved every last ounce of it. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney also shine as Juno’s dad and step-mother, and any movie that has Allison Janney in it I tend to like (Exh. A: Drop Dead Gorgeous).
1416 and Counting 