Know what you're getting into before you see this movie

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2008)

"Juno" represents one of the tragically few instances where big-budget Hollywood is forced to realize that they are no longer king of the film industry. This is an independent film through and through, and it's major, perhaps unexpected, box office success proves that something different does not always mean death for the movie.
Actually, it's success is quite surprising. "Juno" is a good film, but I've seen better. It's being marketed as a comedy, and while it certainly has it's moments of humor, it's actually more of a drama.
Juno MacGuff (a solid Ellen Page, who deservedly got an Oscar nod) is a very independent teenager who decides to "go all the way" with her best friend Paulie Bleeker (the terrifically lovable Michael Cera), and she winds up pregnant. After a bad experience at an abortion clinic, she decides to have the baby, and give it up for adoption, and finds a willing couple (Jennifer Garner, who's a little flat, and Jason Bateman, who is great, though even with his subtle character manipulation, he still seems similar to everything else he's played) in the classifieds.
Though the story focuses on Juno's pregnancy, at the same time it is also about Juno's coming of age (so to speak), and, more specifically, her romance with Paulie Bleeker. Kudos to Diablo Cody (who won an Oscar for her script), and director (who was nominated for a directing Oscar) for dealing with all of this in an intelligent and logical way. There's no superficial melodrama here, unlike some of the big-budget Hollywood productions that deal with teenage issues. Cody and Reitman know how teenage romance works, and they also know what it's like to be in love ("Casablanca" this is not), and they develop this with a lot of tenderness and care, and it makes us really care about the people involved.
The film is marketed as a smart, razor-sharp comedy, but it's more of a light-hearted drama with a few laughs. The parents (the wonderful J.K. Simmons, whose performance arguably deserved an Oscar nod as well, and the slightly over-the-top and underdeveloped Allison Janney) are made to look like the greatest parents in the world since they are okay with Juno getting pregnant. Actually, it's slightly different. They're not happy about it, but they accept it and deal with the situation the best they can.
Knowing what you're going into is important in some movies, because if you expect something other than what you get, a person may have worse feelings than the film probably deserves (which is why I feel that marketing should depict what the movie is really like, instead of what will get most people into the theaters-it may not seem like it will get the most money, but chances are that the viewer will be happier with it and the film will get stronger word-of-mouth). This is what happened to me, so I was a little more easy-going on the grade (though I think that the 6 out of 10 is appropriate). It's still well-worth watching, and not as much of a downer as the subject matter usually has. Then again, it's not as fun as some would have you believe.