the sum is less than its parts

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2007)

This is a well produced, well directed, well written and extremely well acted film. Its essentially a one woman show, and Ellen Page becomes a star with this picture, or at least she should.
So why am I not jumping on the bandwagon? Its a game played with a stacked deck and that turns out to be its downfall.
Juno is a 16 year old high school girl who gets pregnant after a single sexual encounter with her boyfriend of sorts, Paulie. Does Juno panic? Not on your life. Juno is smart as a whip, adventurous and once she decides to have the baby, she sets out on her own to find proper adoptive parts. The first family she visits turns out to be a rich yuppie couple who seem fine and they strike a deal. After a few doubts, Juno winds up having her baby and turns the child over to the rather rigid and somewhat frigid Jennifer Garner, who probably takes the kid right home and registers him for the right pre-school.
The problem with this whole thing is that Juno encounters virtually zero problems along the way. She is not kicked out of school or ostracized by her classmates, her parents are supportive, the boyfriend doesn't disappear on her and the adoptive couple, while facing their own problems, don't turn out to be too bad.
So essentially, what we have is the after school special about teen pregnancy, or one of a thousand Lifetime channel stories on the same topic, but minus most of the conflict. Its also minus what seems to me to be the real life emotion 16 year old girls would go through if this happened to them, and any of the self doubt that goes with the decision to give up their baby.
Lastly comes the question of whether any sixteen year old would be as self assured and well rounded as this girl? It's possible, but rare.
As such, the picture is worth seeing for Page's performance, but Juno is not exactly what you'd call high drama.