Juno (25 December 2007)
directed by Jason Reitman
starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J. K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, Eileen Pedde, Rainn Wilson, Daniel Clark, Darla Vandenbossche, Aman Johal, Valerie Tian, Emily Perkins, Kaaren de Zilva, Sierra Pitkin, Cameron Bright
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MPAA rating: Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Mandate Pictures, Mr. Mudd Script: Diablo Cody Music: Matt Messina Running time: 96 minutes Awards: 2008 Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Tags: adoption; arm chairs; Comedy; Drama; father-daughter relationships; guitars; high schools; music; premarital sex; Romance; teen pregnancy; teen romance Tactical strength: [8/10]
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for mature thematic material, sexual content and language
Fifteen-year-old Juno (Ellen Page) finds out that her spontaneous sex with her best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) has gotten her pregnant. Juno tends to deal with life through sarcasm, and she doesn't allow such a monumental event change her sarcastic tone. Juno does try to do all the "right" things. She tells Paulie that he's the father and that's she's planning on getting an abortion. At the abortion clinic, Juno can't go through with the procedure. Juno's friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) points out that many couples put adoption ads in the Penny Saver, and Juno finds a couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), that seem like a good candidate parents for her baby. After arranging a meeting with the Lorings, Juno tells her parents (J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney), who take the announcement in stride. Her father accompanies Juno to meet Lorings and everything seems to go well. In particular Juno finds that she has some common interests with Mark Loring -- they both play guitar and like trading CDs of obscure bands.
Juno doesn't think much more of Mark than a cool friend with whom she can hang out without having to think about being pregnant, but as an audience, we see that Mark has more interest in Juno than he probably should. Mark used to play in a band, but he "sold out" and began writing music for television commercials as part of settling down with Vanessa. Associating with Juno (and the prospect of having to care for a baby) rekindles Mark's desire to return to a more free spirited life. Mark announces to Juno that he's leaving Vanessa. Juno sees this as a total collapse of her plans for adopting out her baby. Mark, confused by Juno's reaction, says, "I thought you would understand." He doesn't have some sick fantasy that Juno will come live with him -- she just provided the impetus for his decision that he didn't want a staid life in the suburbs.
Throughout the film, Juno struggles with her feelings for Paulie. She doesn't hold any grudge against him for getting her pregnant, but her pregnancy has changed their relationship from best friends that hung out after school every day to casually saying hello in the school hallway. Clearly Paulie still likes Juno, but Juno has to decide whether she wants to remain friends with Paulie. We do get one really good scene where Michael Cera breaks out of Paulie's seemingly indifferent shell and shows how deeply Juno's pregnancy has affected Paulie. Juno confronts Paulie when she finds out he has asked another girl to the Junior Prom. He listens for a bit and finally responds with, "You have no reason to be mad at me. I mean -- you know -- you broke my heart." We get a tiny glimpse that this nerdy kid really does have deep feelings for Juno, adding yet another thing for Juno to have to contemplate and resolve.
We see moments when Juno recognizes something of what she's sacrificing by adopting out her baby. Watching a mother chase her young children around a plaground, Juno seems to have second thoughts. We don't see enough of the effects of Juno's pregnancy on her experience at school. We do get one condemning look from an office worker, but we don't see any of the real effects of how Juno's peers would treat her as a pregnant girl continuing to attend school. The film would have us believe that almost nothing happens, which I find a bit implausible. Perhaps by excluding any real taunting at school, director Jason Reitman wants to show us that Juno has enough self-esteem that the attitudes and behaviors of kids at school don't affect her much. But on the whole, Juno does a good job at portraying a particular girl's experience with teen pregnancy, although I don't think you can extend this portrait much beyond Juno's character since she has more self-confidence and personal determination than most adults.
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