Juno - Movie Review

A film about teen pregnancy. Another typical movie right? About as typical as Harold and Maude or Election. So is it sappy then? In less of a When Harry Met Sally way and more with a well, a "Juno" Way. Sappy is just a substitute word for sincere for those people out there who are more cynical about the world. Although Juno, played by the magnificent Ellen Page, can be quite cynical about the world at large, she is as a sincere and honest character as you'll ever want to meet. And sometimes maybe not. And that's what so great about her and the other characters in the film. They don't seem to be so much written, they talk like regular people and have the same reactions to things as you and I would.

Juno takes us back to a time when films were made about people and characters and the real stuff in life. But it's so simple. Juno wants to know where she is headed in life but she never says so. You just kind of figure it out. Juno is like any atypical punk teenager in 2007, not typical. As we find out more about Juno, we learn there's nothing too over-the-top special about her like so many movies make teens out to be these days. She's just a regular kid who seems to be doing fine, until - whoops. She gets pregnant. Or as Rainn Wilson from "The Office", playing a convenience store clerk poignantly says, Preggo. Wilson is a genius in any role and it's too bad we don't get to see more of him in this film.

But it doesn't matter because we are so fulfilled by the rest of the characters in Juno that we can't think of anything else. This is the epitome of the quirky, rounded, simple, yet realistic characters that every independent film tries to have but usually almost fails at having because they are trying to copy a quirkiness they saw somewhere else. Ellen Page is the lead and the find of 2007. Not only does she spring off the funny, non-bashful lines of dialogue like it's been in her vocabulary since she was three, but she's just a great actress. You don't feel the fake sadness of a pregnant teenage girl that you usually get from most teen pregnancy stories. Her character is genuine to her situation. As are all the characters.

Michael Cera performs well again, as if anyone had any doubt, as a quiet, regular old, track-running, guitar playing high school guy who has no idea what to do in his situation. Michael is always great at playing the regular guy without being quasi-normal or boring. Jason Bateman too, who is always a highlight of any film plays a bit of a darker role than we've seen since 1985. He's not evil in the great sense of the world, but his character isn't true to himself in the film and Bateman really knows how to bring that across without being sappy or sad. The parents of Juno played by J.K Simmons and Alison Janney also do a fantastic job playing it real as opposed to being outraged at Juno's unfortunate situation.

Subtlety, which is pretty much all the actors' strong suits in these winning performances, is the essence and humor of the film. Not to mention Jessica Alba who I would expect to give an over-the-top comedic venture in this beautiful film, but who actually gives a great performance amongst all the rest. A different character for Jessica, she plays a barren yet aching for a baby woman, and to my surprise, it felt quite real to me. As shockingly good of a performance as when I saw Nicolas Cage in Adaptation.

Now the greatest thing about this film is the dialogue, besides Ellen Page's performance, is the dialogue. Page definitely carries the dialogue with a certain perfection but the writers need a pat on the back for that. I haven't heard as good a script of dialogue and as good of plants and payoffs since Pulp Fiction. The reality of each moment, the awkwardness of Juno's questions and replies remind me of teenagers I used to know when I was a teen (not me of course!). The sassiness and high school moments wreak of the apathy teenagers have about life these days without being again, sappy at all. There are no real solutions, just life going on with the decisions made.

The biggest and best part of Juno is its theme - love. Why do people throw themselves together with each other if they don't think it'll work? And if they do, how will they know if they're wrong or not? Juno and so many other people in the film see their worlds falling apart, not because of a pregnancy or not being able to get pregnant, but because things didn't turn out the way they absolutely knew they would. And what's to do about it? This is the question interpreted to be on Juno's mind throughout the film. And this is the question it leaves us with. If you want to be inspired, if you want to laugh out loud like you haven't done in years while watching a film (except if you've seen Superbad) or if you just wanna see something good on the screen for once in the last couple years, go see this film. You won't be disappointed.