Juno

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2008)

Juno is about an eccentric 16 year old girl named Juno MacGuff who soon discovers that she is pregnant. Being 16 and pregnant isn't that easy as Juno soon finds out and during these nine months and right till the end of her pregnancy, Juno matures as a person and learns about life, love and a lot of other things most people at that age would not learn until much older. I realize that I 'am not going as lengthily into the plot of this film as I may have in some of my past reviews, but Juno is really a great film to experience and I feel that if I were to give away any more it wouldn't exactly be giving away any big secrets, or plot twists because the movie isn't like that, but I feel experiencing the movie without having too much knowledge or idea of how it might turn out will probably enhance your viewing pleasure because you get to see the magic of it's wonderful script and performances unfold before you and that is a far greater enjoyment than having known about the film's many quirks and wonderful characters that you may otherwise not be able to enjoy as much. The film's script is quite literally brilliant and one of the most original and heartfelt to come out of the Hollywood system in awhile. Everything from Juno's teenage urban vocabulary, the pop culture references, or just the film's wonderfully unique and charming characters that are really a treat to get to know throughout the film. While the plot of the film is simple enough there are so many different layers to all of these characters and their personalities and true self portraits get to shine during the film. And like I said because these characters are so original and at the same time so human and realistic it's authenticity is really felt. The script also features a lot of humour, great one liners and a lot of human situations that show us just how real this movie is and it is done with a real sharp taste of what it would be like for someone in this situation as well as showing the emotions, drama and life lessons including love that these characters discover. All of this is told to us with the brilliant spot on performances and the wonderful script that will make us laugh and other times warm our hearts with the loving and caring nature that the main characters show off. This past year we had Juno and Knocked Up both dealing with unplanned pregnancies and making it very humorous and at the same time very real and touching at the same moment. This film is so rich with it's writing and acted out with sheer brilliance by it's cast and it deserves a spot on the list as one of the year's best films and a wonderful performance by lead actress Ellen Page (who will likely get an Oscar if Julie Christie, or Marion Cotillard don't get it) and a real and wonderfully written script by Diablo Cody which just gets me thinking about how much I loved it by just thinking about it. This film works as a comedy, a drama, a character study and a human interest story with a lot to give it's viewers. One of the year's best.