Cheerleading for the right-to-life

Rating: 4/10 (31 December 2007)

Was it me or was this movie a lengthy commercial for the Right-To-Life movement? As Juno enters the abortion clinic she encounters one inarticulate protester(Yes, folks!Even one person can make a difference!). An offhand comment regarding a fetus having fingernails,along with a callous clinic worker(after all no one working in one of those places could be a good person), causes Juno to change her mind and flee the clinic. She decides on adoption with no more emotion than someone finding a home for a stray kitten. Nowhere in the movie is the difficulty of surrendering a baby for adoption addressed.Juno,lying on her hospital bed with her boyfriend post-birth, states that the baby never really felt like theirs.Maybe not "theirs", but any one who has given birth feels on some level that the child is hers. Unfortunately any sense of regret or real emotion is glossed over. In the end after the baby has found a more suitable home with the neurotic and newly single Jennifer Garner, Juno's world is one of sunshine and happiness. Her stepmother has gotten the new puppy she's been wanting(evidently Juno's selfless decision has cured her of dog allergies)And Juno's boyfriend is waiting to sing a charming folk duet with her.This is the same boyfriend incidentally who took no interest in her pregnancy or its outcome-truly a dream man for any girl! The heavy handed message of this film left me cold. Odd that a former stripper and phone sex worker would write a movie with such a religious right agenda.