Most intelligent dramady in a long time

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2007)

I'm tempted to call Juno a comedy, but that isn't really correct. It's a dramatically gripping film, with real characters, that happens to be quite frequently funny. The humor generally comes through acid-sharp dialog, which is both sublimely human and thoroughly well written. The drama, however, comes out through characters which are neither black nor white. One moment a character will be portrayed engaging in a creepy and negative act, the next they will be viewed in a sympathetic light. Everyone is behaving with the best of intentions, and we as the audience get to ride along as those intentions twist the characters into an ugly reflection of us all. The excellent acting across the board helps this tremendously.
It's a quite sympathetic movie overall, and nobody comes off looking like "a bad guy." It's a solidly written, acted, and directed piece, that all comes together to feel grander than a simple family story. This may very well be the best coming-of-age film for years to come.