Excellent writing and great directing

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2012)

Juno, surprisingly, is a very smart, a very different sort of comedy which takes an approach on something oh so very dark (such as teen pregnancy) and makes it into a light, calming movie. It makes the main character, Juno (Ellen Page), not feel as if she's in a fix, but as if she's in a problem that just takes time to complete. And she says the time will come when the baby comes out, so that's when it'll be solved. But then that's where one of my problems with the movie arises. Although Ellen Page's and the whole cast's acting was great, the movie felt a bit unrealistic. I mean, Juno just walked around, lugging a baby and not feeling a bit of regret for herself, and her parents's reaction was definitely nothing like another parents reaction would be. But as I said before, what makes this film spectacular is the fact that teen pregnancy isn't sucky, but should be taken simply and you just have to with it. The best part about this film though, is the writing. Good god, I was giggling at almost every line, and every single word of dialogue intrigued me. The vast vocabulary that Diablo Cody put into this film made it so modern and different, and surprisingly, there was not very much cussing either. The best lines also came from Ellen Page, obvioulsey, and that was also in part because of her acting. If this film was an audio tape story, and not a movie, I still would've given it a 10 out of 10. The directing, as well, was fantastic. Jason Reitman totally put all his effort into the perfect shots, the perfect transitions, and the excellent editing. His single shots in places made the film seem very independent and overall extremely enjoyable. Also, at some places, when Juno would be talking about something, such as her favorite band, Reitman would add pictures and screen to show who they were. And these only lasted for but 3 seconds, while others lasted a bit longer. Also, he added many recurring themes within the film, such as cross country runners and blue ICEES (you'll know what I mean when you see the film). Then, there were some aspects of the film that got annoying. First of all, was the country music. Although the original song at the end was catchy, I could not enjoy the score. I also thought the character development wasn't fully established. Juno and her boyfriends connection was quite awkward and I wasn't really sure if they were just friends or in a reltaionship. Overall, though, I still enjoyed the film. I don't think I could watch it anytime over and over again, so it won't be making my favorite movies of all time list.
As it is, Juno is an excellently written, nicely directed, and well acted film with very few flaws, giving it an 8/10. A-