Juno, He Said

If an movie about accidental teen pregnancy can bring a smile to your face, it's this one. Part of the reason is that the dilemma of our pregnant heroine, Juno MacGuff is not trivialized. All of the angst and physical discomfort of teen pregnancy is displayed and examined. The confused and frightened boyfriend, the disappointed parents, the disapproving boyfriends parents, and the unsympathetic school friends are all depicted as we might imagine them in real life. On the other hand, some of the snappiest dialogue ever written puts this story in this time and place better than a set designer or costume designer ever could.

After she initiates a clumsy one night stand with her boy friend, Paulie, played by Michael Cera, Juno finds herself pregnant. The heroine Juno, deliciously played by Ellen Page, decides she wants to have the baby and adopt it out. When she tells her parents, she also has a plan. Juno and her friend, Leah, found the couple to adopt the baby from an ad in the shopping news.

Juno's father played by J.K. Simmons insists on accompany his daughter to her interview with the perspective couple. This pair of yuppies seem ideal, even if Vanessa Loring, played by Jennifer Garner, is a little tightly wound. We easily sense her disbelief that this child may suddenly become hers and she holds herself in reserve in case the arrangement falls. The Hubby,Mark Loring, Jason Bateman, is giving us all kind of signs that he is not on board, but it only becomes apparent later.

What this film is abut is a young person learning about love. Not the red hot sensual love of sex in the dark, but the love that gets you through waking up in the middle of the night with a crying child. The kind of love that puts your dreams on hold so your kids can grow up and formulate a dream for themselves.

The script in this film is wonderful for two reasons. The dialogue is snappy and funny. The writer, Diablo Cody, involves every character in the story to demonstrate his theme. Juno's step mom, Bren, Allison Janney, tells her that her dream is to own a dog, but she has put this on hold until Juno moves out because Juno is allergic to dog saliva. We also watch the sceptical step mom become the pillar of support that Juno needs.

Mark Loring shows us that some of us shouldn't be parents, because we aren't ready to give up our dreams and that just going along with the program is not anything like wanting to be a Dad. Vanessa shows us that if your ready your ready and Juno represents the knowing your not ready.

I often admired the work of the ubiquitous J.K. Simmons. With a face like a Dad, a cop, a government official, and news paper editor, Simmons has played all of them. He is great as the retired military, HAVC repair man, father. His performance almost violates the wall between theactor and the audience because in this story he does represent all of us. He has the unconditional for Juno we all wish we could express in her moment of need and the bastion of common sense in the sea of lunacy Juno submerges herself in.

I love that a small film can attract the quality of actors and talent that this film did. But I understand why they would want to do it. This neat little comedy puts the Mall Movie Hijinks's films to shame with their pandering to the sitcom mentally. This film informs in an entertaining way with characters that have depth and a theme that plums the depths of reality.