Juno: The Review

I have overheard people say, "Juno? Isn't that the pregnant teen movie? Uh, I'll skip it." Probably the same people who thought Little Miss Sunshine was about a girl in a beauty pageant. It's okay with me if they want to miss a gem in this year's movie garbage pile. Actually, if you are one of those people that prefer to be cinematically stunted...then you don't have to continue reading this review. For the rest of you keen movie watchers...
Juno was just what I needed. I was so hoping it was good. I was having a crappy day and didn't need to be disappointed like I was by the rest of the Oscar nominated movies (exception being Michael Clayton). I knew Juno was about a pregnant teenager and her wit in the previews was enough to spark my interest. The script and the cast make this movie a delight. Ellen Page (X-Men 3, Hard Candy) is brilliant as the title character. She is a 16 year old girl who has sex with her best friend once and well...it only takes once. Her boyfriend/best friend is kind of an awkward semi-jock geek who is smitten with her and who no one else thinks "had it in him" to get someone pregnant. These aren't bad kids from bad homes - the stigma. Juno's parents take it as well as anyone can. The father (J.K. Simmons) is disappointed and her step-mother goes right to work on a prenatal care plan. The whole school knows and Juno doesn't care. She's pregnant - it'll speak for itself. She is already somewhat mature (and seems more mature than some of the adults we meet) and grows even more through her pregnancy (no pun intended). With the supporting cast of Justin Bateman and Jennifer Garner (so much potential!) this movie can do no wrong.
Jason Reitman, who also wrote and directed Thank You For Smoking, makes this movie about an uncomfortable subject...more comfortable with his frank speaking characters who are human and doing the best they can with it.
It's hard to say if this movie was better than Michael Clayton. It certainly beats out any other nominated movies from last year. This is a hard movie to peg. It would be like putting Little Miss Sunshine or Thank You For Smoking in a genre. Comedy? Drama? Like Juno, these movies fall into their own category - that would be brilliant.
MMMMM (out of 5 M's)