Juno

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2008)

Most American teen comedies are full of sex and filth (obviously that's what makes them great), but this one is more grown up, more drama really dealing with a common subject, from Oscar nominated director Jason Reitman (director of Thank You For Smoking, and son of Twins director Ivan). Basically 16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Ellen Page) is the sassy, clever teenager loses her virginity to best friend Paulie Bleeker (Superbad's Michael Cera), their not exclusive boyfriend/girlfriend. Not long after this, Juno takes three pregnancy tests, and they are all positive, so she originally considers abortion. But when she sees so many other girls in her situation, and goes against her original intention, and decides to have the baby. She explains the situation to her parents, father Mac (Spider-Man's J.K. Simmons) and mother Bren (The West Wing's Allison Janney), she wants a couple to adopt the baby when it is born. From a local newspaper she finds what she thinks is the perfect couple who want to adopt a baby, Vanessa (Elektra's Jennifer Garner) and Mark Loring (Dodgeball's Jason Bateman), and even though Juno puts on a confident attitude (with "post-Dawson's Creek" dialogue), she is just as anxious and confused as any girl in her situation would be. Everything seems to be going okay, Juno signs a contract to have no contact with the baby after it is born, and she gets to know the couple much better, she is pleased with Mark's love of grunge music and horror films, but Vanessa is more uptight, and more eager than Mark for the baby. There is a point where only a while away from giving birth, Mark and Vanessa break apart, but Juno understands Vanessa's eagerness, and decides that if Mark doesn't want it as much as her, then Vanessa should still be able to witness the birth. In the end, Vanessa gets her child, and Juno and Paulie seem to form a much closer relationship, so, a happy ending for all who need one. Also starring Olivia Thirlby as Leah, Eileen Pedde as Gerta Rauss, Rainn Wilson as Rollo and Daniel Clark as Steve Rendazo. Page gives a remarkable performance as the sassy, pregnant teen, and there is welcome support by Simmons and Janney as her parents, the comedy mainly comes from Page's confident attitude and the witty dialogue, it does excel slightly more as a drama, but both combinations make this a classy independent film. It won the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, and it was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, it won the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay. Very good!