Warm and entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2008)

In a small town in America (in Minnesota, though it's never named in the movie), Juno, a wiseacre sixteen years old, finds herself pregnant after her sexual debut with her sweet high school pal and band mate (Michael Cera). With the support of her loving father and stepmother, she decides against an abortion, and plans to give her newborn child to a seemingly perfect but barren yuppie couple (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). But things will not go as planned, and under pressure, the couple will show themselves not as perfect as they first seem. Overall, a great film, with great songs (mostly by Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches) and a superb performance in the title role by Ellen Page (an actress to watch in the future, that's for sure). Other great performances are by Bateman (as a child in man's clothes) and JK Simmons as Juno's understanding dad. As other reviewers has said, the first half hour is somewhat off putting, because Juno's such a smart ass, always spouting clever retorts and comebacks, that she threatens to be unbearable (any other actress playing the character would probably make it unwatchable). But the movie improves in the key scene of Juno breaking the news of her pregnancy to her parents. After that, the movie gets better and better, and it is quite moving by the end. Clearly, the character of Juno matures a lot throughout the movie. On the abortion issue, I think the movie is pro life without screaming it. Is the movie realistic in this sense? Probably not, but it's warm and very entertaining. Some of the name dropping is off putting, though (a sixteen year old in small town America familiar with the movies of Dario Argento? I don't think so. The same goes for her presumed love for punk rock, and bands that have already stopped recording by the time she was born).