Hipster with a Hughes heart
Following a brief lapse of good sense, the usually sharp Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) gets impregnated by good friend Paulie (Michael Cera) after a bout of unprotected sexual experimentation. Having a child poses more than a few problems for a sixteen-year-old, but Juno decides to give birth to the baby instead of aborting it. With the help of her parents (played by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney), she finds the perfect foster parents for her child, the well-to-do Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman). Juno becomes close with the couple, especially Mark, but gets a shock when he confesses his true feelings about the adoption.
A teen pregnancy comedy-drama flick – what’s so original about that? Nothing, except in the way that it’s being done, which is really good. The design of the movie is like a culmination of all the recent teen flicks such as Napoleon Dynamite, Igby Goes Down and Thumbsucker, while its story is very John Hughes-like (director-writer of classic teen movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.) It avoided a lot of the teen-pregnancy-movie clichés, such as the fainting, hysterical parent or the irresponsible boyfriend, and manages not to be pretentious or contrived. Although the hipster talk tended to alienate a little at the beginning, the script was pretty good throughout, with many funny and memorable lines especially coming from Juno and her dad. It’s not all a laugh fest, and contains many moving moments that only enhance our love for its characters. The cast and crew did such a great job creating the roles and environments of Juno, it’s such a pity they’re not real. Would have loved to live there and know these people. Looking forward to revisiting the place on DVD. - BMF
Directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Consent) and written by Diablo Cody (debut). Stars Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons and Olivia Thirlby. |
