Juno McGuff is a light hearted story about a sixteen year old girl who decides to have sex with her unassuming nerdy friend, Paulie Bleeker (Micheal Cera). It’s each of their first time and the result is mortifying, or at least could be. Juno is pregnant. When Juno immediately takes charge of the situation by telling the teen Daddy to not worry about it, you know this girl is different than your typical high school girl. After she realizes she can’t abort the baby she tells her father, played brilliantly by J.K. Simmons, and her step mother (Allison Janney) that she will be giving it up for adoption. In her search, she finds Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman).
The side story with the adoptive parents, Vanessa and Mark, is an interesting twist. At first glance they are your perfect rich beautiful looking couple, until you start to look closely. Jennifer Garner plays the desperate and shaky, and nervous wife, who desires to be a mom more than anything. Almost immediately you can see Mark, her husband, has something a little dark and off about him, yet the interaction between Juno and himself offers so much chemistry you get distracted and almost forget about the rest of the story. His onscreen attraction to Juno rivals even Timmothy Huttons adoration of Natalie Portman in “Beautiful Girls”.
The film is a cornucopia of offbeat, witty writing, sensational casting, topped with an amazing director (Jason Reitman) who had the vision to make it all work together. The most astounding aspect of the story is while it remains serious and true to it’s subject matter, it’s still downright hilarious. This is an attribution to the writer Diablo Cody and to Ellen Page, who plays Juno and is plain and simply a star. She executes a perfect match of eclectic and intelligent lines with a sass and low key sarcasm that sets her apart from any young actress out there right now. The supporting cast, especially Micheal Cera in his bright yellow running shorts is an absolute delight.
Juno is a clever, original film that has enough depth mixed with just the right amount of humour to touch anyone and everyone. This is a movie you could take your twelve year old daughter to, along with your seventy year old grandmother. What a breath of sincerity. Four out of four stars.
Popularity: 1% [?]
