Re: *** Official JUNO Review Thread
Juno MacGuff is 16 years old. She is smart, witty, and funny. She is also pregnant, the result of a lazy afternoon liaison with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). That is the setup for what could have been a cloying, immature teen romance, but instead turned out to be the year’s best comedy. I loved Knocked Up and Superbad, finding both raunchy and sweet, but Juno rises above those two, thanks to its brilliant Oscar-worthy screenplay by Diablo Cody and Oscar-worthy turn by the lead actress, Ellen Page.
When Juno finds out she is pregnant, she doesn’t take the home pregnancy test once, but three time because she can’t believe it herself. After telling Bleeker and Leah (Olivia Thirlby), she then has the unenviable task of telling her dad, Mac (J.K. Simmons) and step mom, Brenda (Allison Janney). If everything leading up to this scene didn’t convince me that I was watching something great in the making, this scene certainly did. Instead of exploding at her and demanding to know who the father is and threatening to kill him, they express amazement that the father could even do something like that.
After deciding not to go through with an abortion, Juno decides to look for adoptive parents and she finds them in the wanted ads next to pets. After meeting with Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason Bateman), she decides that they will be the parents of her unborn child.
The movie then follows Juno throughout the pregnancy and we get to observe how she and everyone else in her life deal with the unexpected. Juno deals by treating it as no big deal at first, but as the months progress, it dominates her life. Mac and Brenda, in a rarity seen in movies about teenagers, support her and give her advice. Leah and Bleeker support her only in the way that teenagers can. Last, but not least, Vanessa and Mark give her support that is at odds with each other.
J.K Simmons and Allison Janney, two of the best character actors around, are superb as Juno’s parents. At times understanding and other times, simply hilarious, they are a marvel to watch. Michael Cera, fresh off of a stellar turn in Superbad, shines again as Juno’s orange tic tac eating wanna be boyfriend. Olivia Thirlby is terrific as Juno’s friend who is her sounding board throughout her pregnancy. Last, but not least, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are wonderful as the adoptive parents. Jennifer has a scene about 2/3rds of the way through that should win her an Oscar nomination. It’s about as perfect of a scene I’ve seen all year. You’ll know it when you see it.
Jason Reitman proves that his debut feature, Thank You for Smoking, was no fluke and that the family genes for directing are put to good use, his father being Ivan Reitman, director of the 80’s classic, Ghostbusters.
Above all, however, is the witty, sharp, quippy, sarcastic screenplay by former stripper Diablo Cody and the lovely, delightful, charming and beguiling turn by Ellen Page. After watching the movie, I just wanted to hug her and hang out with her.
To paraphrase Roger Ebert’s famous rant from his movie review of North: “I loved this movie. Loved loved loved loved loved this movie. Loved it.”
4 Stars.
