If you like Napolean Dynamite you will like Juno

Rating: Null/10 (16 September 2011)

In the movie Juno, a young teenage girl played by Ellen Page named Juno gets impregnated by her best guy friend Paulie Bleeker, who is played by Michael Cera, after only having had sex once. Juno is a unique and spunky teenager who decides that she cannot go through with an abortion so her best friend Leah, played by Olivia Thirlby, helps her find what seems to be the perfect couple. The couple, Vanessa and Mark Loring, played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, is an upper middle class family who has wanted a baby for some time. As the movie progresses you learn that Mark is not ready for a baby and misses the days where he was a "rock star." After wondering if Mark has developed some feelings for Juno that are not so innocent you do find out that he is leaving Vanessa. Juno finds this extremely upsetting because she wanted the perfect family to raise her baby but after doing some thinking she decides that if Vanessa is still willing to go through with the adoption without Mark so is she. Juno then questions love and its lasting capabilities and after a talk with her father, played by J.K. Simmons, she decides to express her deeper feelings for Bleeker. At the end of the movie Juno has the baby and Vanessa becomes a mom, while Juno goes on to live the life of a high school student with Bleeker as her boyfriend.
The theme to this movie is one about love, both falling in love and love falling apart. Throughout the movie Juno struggles with her feelings for Bleeker but does not want to express them out of fear, maybe from the fact that her parents are divorced. Her struggles can be seen in the scenes where her best friend Leah teases her about Bleeker. Then there is the theme of love falling apart between Vanessa and Mark. This part is not as sad as you might think because throughout the movie you can tell Mark is not excited about becoming a father. So by him leaving it is actually quite a relief and Vanessa, who has wanted nothing more than to be a mom, still goes through with the adoption. The use of rack focus in the scene where Vanessa holds her baby for the first time was very appropriate and added depth to the scene.
This film reminds me a lot of Napoleon Dynamite in many ways. Napoleon Dynamite uses a similar type of humor that is not laugh out loud but when you leave you feel as though you've just watched one of the funniest movies ever, Juno leave you feeling the same way. Napoleon Dynamite is also centered on a quirky teenager in high school dealing with friendship and a crush. Awkward teenage love is something that we all can relate to and Juno almost makes you wish you could go back and redo it.