A Great Journey Based On Decisions We Make In Life

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2019)

"Juno" stars Ellen Page as young adolescent Juno MacGuff who's very witty in character and very cool in her ways of life. She resides with her father Mac (J. K. Simmons) and her stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) and lives off a strict way in how she behaves and how she talks. She attends a school in Minnesota and has a laconic boyfriend named Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) who one day had sex with her which resulted in her getting pregnant. Now she's in a tough situation in which she must decide where to go from here. At first, Juno contemplates on aborting the child, but it is her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) who suggests getting Juno to find suitable parents who will adopt the child and to provide a loving home for him or her. The parents that Juno comes across are Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). At first glance it seems like the perfect choice, only to later discover, it's not all as simple as it comes.
What makes "Juno" stand out is that it succeeds in remaining fresh, original, sincere and characters we can all relate to with enough material and character development to get the audience into these individuals life. Under the direction from Jason Reitman who previously directed "Thank You For Smoking" has brought wit, humour, provocative scenes and a coming-of-age journey where a young teenage girl now has the toughest decision she's ever had. Even as absurd and surreal as this story can be at times, the social commentary about teen pregnancy is handled with caution and care by Ellen Page who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.
Although the topic of teen pregnancy and the dominating performance by Page carries the film, the other cast and crew deserve some special attention as well. Diablo Cody in her screenwriting debut did an incredible job in providing real characters facing real situations and speaking out towards youth about the struggles in making the hardest decisions in your life and what results will come into effect. Juno is quite a cool character and yet she remains attached to an awkward kid like Paulie who seems to spend most of the movie sporting a gym uniform with colours maroon and yellow. And sure her choice in men are questionable, we can get past that just like her decision to give her child up for adoption from potential parents from a classified ad she skimmed through.
This story can be a bit predictable in the end, but at least what's refreshing is how the scenes pan out. The people in Juno's life have varying degrees in how she interacts which may not always be logical, but still provocative. The supporting cast also deliver great performances. Simmons is wonderful as the fair but firm father. Janney is excellent as the strongly opinionated stepmother. Bateman is convincing as Mark the man-child who writes commercial jingles, and Garner as his wife willing to the commitment in raising a child. And Cera is still charming as the awkward crush who has a level of kindness. With its steady flow of one-liners, the jokes are not designed for shock. But through this journey we experienced the joys, the laughter and the tears and the angst with a solid message that never goes preachy. Not all journey's end with rewarding results. I'm just glad, this one did.