A sharp screenplay and wonderful performances

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2015)

Teen pregnancy is not a new subject matter for the movies, but it is given a strikingly original and fresh coat of paint in the 2007 film Juno, a riveting comedy-drama that provides consistent entertainment and flawed, believable characters that speak without filters and remain steeped in realism.
The film stars Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff, a 16-year old girl who finds herself pregnant after a one night stand with her boyfriend (Michael Cera) who decides that she is going to allow the baby to be adopted by a seemingly happy, upwardly mobile couple named Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner) and how the plan veers in some very unexpected directions.
Diablo Cody's brilliant, Oscar-winning screenplay anchors the proceedings because it skips over a lot of the clichéd issues normally addressed in films on this subject matter. I liked the fact that there was no discussion about Juno keeping the baby, I liked that she knows from jump that she is no position to be a mother and I like that Juno agreed to a closed adoption, meaning that once the baby is born, she hands him over and has no more contact with the baby or his new family. Also loved the unconditional support Juno received from her father (JK Simmons) and stepmother (Allison Janney).
What I didn't like is the way Juno pretty much shut the father out of her initial decision-making and the relationship that develops between Juno and Mark really had me squirming...I knew it was wrong for Juno to be getting this close to Mark; on other hand, it was also clear to me early on that Mark and Vanessa were not as happy as they pretended to be for Juno. There is a wonderful scene between Bateman and Garner where they are looking at possible colors for the nursery and the tension between them is real and burns a hole through the screen, which can only be attributed to the skillful directorial hand of Jason Reitman, who had already proved himself to me with Thank you for Smoking.
Ellen Page turns in a star-making performance in the title role, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress and she receives solid support from Bateman, Simmons, Janney, and especially Jennifer Garner, who blew me away with the performance of her career as Vanessa, the woman who wants to be a mother more than anything and you just know is not going to be able to withstand another disappointment. Especially loved the scene where Vanessa ran into Juno at the mall and Juno allowed her to talk to the unborn baby in Juno's belly.
Some inventive camera work and a lovely song score are the finishing touches on this unique and moving film that quietly sails through the soul to an extremely satisfying denouement.