Movie Review: Juno

The first time I caught a commercial for the movie Juno, I was very excited to see that Ellen Page was the main character in the movie. I adored this sweet, yet sarcastic gal since I first caught her in the movie Hard Candy.

Anyhow, Juno is about a 16 year old girl (named Juno) who gets pregnant with her best friend Paulie (played by Super Bads, Michael Cera) and does not know what to do about it. Juno's first reaction was to go and have an abortion; yet while in the clinic she has second thoughts and does not have the heart to go through with it.

(The scene where Juno tells Paulie the pregnancy news she does it in such an odd, weird way, that you cannot help but wonder what just happened! Did she really break the news like that!?)

Anyhow, after some quick thinking she decides that the best alternative for her and her baby would be to look for adoptive parents. Her and her best friend Leah search the local Penny Saver, and they come across a couple (Vanessa and Mark) that seems perfect for Juno's baby.

Rich upperclass folks who have been trying for years to have a baby of their own. Juno visits with them, thinks they are the perfect couple for her baby, and that everything would be smooth sailing from then on.

Juno quickly establishes a relationship with the couple (played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), more so the husband though, seeing how they have similar likes when it comes to movies and music.

Vanessa has doubts, and thinks that Juno will change her mind and want to keep the baby once it is born. Juno keeps telling them though that she will not change her mind, and that her baby is better off with them.

Juno stops by frequently and establishes a close relationship with Mark. During one visit Mark breaks news to Juno that he wants to leave Vanessa.

This creates a whirlwind of new decisions for Juno, and it hurts her knowing that they were supposed to adopt her baby, and now Mark has cold feet! Juno herself comes from a broken family, and when she hears that the man who was supposed to adopt her baby is now leaving his wife she does not know what to do about the baby. Does Juno keep her baby, or does she find a new couple to adopt the baby?

The plot is well done, and ends with a surprise that even myself could not guess. Most teen pregnancy movies all end the same, however Juno takes on a whole new perspective that honestly I didn't see coming. The ending though was done beautifully, and could not of been done better.

The acting in Juno was superb. Ellen Page once again delivered, making her Juno character come to life with wit, sarcasm, and a dark sense of humor, that was surprisingly very likable. Michael Cera (Juno's babies daddy) didn't have much of a role in the flick, and his face was only thrown in randomly throughout the flick. Even though he was given small parts, he still did a wonderful job at portraying his character.

One small odd scene that stuck out as peculiar though was when Juno announces to her father and step mother that she is pregnant. The reaction she got from her parents was very fake. Normal parents that just heard that their 16 year old daughter was knocked up would not be able to say seated. Juno's dad and step mother though barely raised an eyebrow, and they remained seated the whole time. In my opinion this scene could of been done up to make it a lot more believable. Some yelling, some insults thrown....but nothing. They didn't even think twice when Juno announced she wanted to give the baby up for adoption.

It was all too... fake for me to swallow. The rest of the film though was believable enough for me to dismiss that one scene that I didn't quite understand or connect with I should say.

Overall though Juno was an excellent film that dealt with the issue of teenage pregnancy, and adoption as an alternative to abortion. The film was done up wonderfully, with unbelievable teen actors, and some gnarly tunes thrown into the mix giving it that odd, quirky Napoleon Dynamite type vibe. The flick ended on a gorgeous and heartfelt note, and I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

-One little thing I found odd though about Juno, was that Juno wore a near identical red hood jacket that she had worn in Hard Candy. Ellen Page now has this red hoodie image set in my mind, which makes me think that she'd play a gnarly dark Little Red Riding Hood if they were ever to make such a film.

I highly recommend it.