A superbly written dark comedy for the everyday person

Rating: 9/10 (27 January 2008)

A superbly written dark comedy involving a dynamic cast where one had to remind them self that this was in fact a movie and not a story about someone they knew. The premise, brilliantly simple; teenage girl gets pregnant and while one might think "and" you cannot help but become enthralled in the sarcastic witty banter of day-to-day life. As is the trend in recent movies and perhaps one of its endearing qualities is that it escaped the fantasy movie land depiction of pregnancy and settled right into the norm of lower middle class. The cast displayed a comfortable rapport, setting the stage for believability. For me the only minor fault was the instant acceptance of the father to the news of his "June-bugs" pregnancy. Personally I was expecting that to be one of the (albeit minor) obstacles. Superb performances by Ellen Page (Juno), Jason Bateman (Mark Loring), and J.K. Simmons (Mac MacGuff)! Allison Janney's (Bren MacGuff) performance while enjoyable did not seem that different then her role as Loretta in the 90's flick Drop Dead Gorgeous. Jennifer Garner (Vanessa Loring) did a wonderful job of playing the uptight adoptive parent. And finally Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker) did a good job playing yet another awkward teenager (but it will interesting to see what this young star will offer next). Overall I would give this movie falls within the range of 8.7 to 9.1.