1 of 3

Juno Our rating: Your rating:   MPAA rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic material, sexual content and language) Genre: Comedy, Drama Theater release: December 05, 2007 by Fox Searchlight Directed by: Jason Reitman Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes Cast: Ellen Page (Juno MacGuff), Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker), Jennifer Garner (Vanessa Loring), Jason Bateman (Mark Loring), J.K. Simmons (Mac MacGuff), Allison Janney (Bren MacGuff), Olivia Thirlby (Leah), Valerie Tian (Su-Chin) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

Who could have foreseen that 2007 would be the year of the unplanned pregnancy at the multiplex? And who could have foreseen that, as the year progressed, the films dealing with this topic would be increasingly bold in expressing their implicitly pro-life—not "anti-choice," but certainly pro-life—sensibilities?

First there was Waitress, which starred 30-ish Keri Russell as a married woman who learns that she is bearing the offspring of her neglectful, even abusive, husband; deeply ambivalent about the pregnancy itself, she simply states that she recognizes the child's "right to thrive," and that is that. Then there was Knocked Up, in which Katherine Heigl played a single up-and-coming journalist in her 20s who keeps her baby partly because she is repulsed by her mother's suggestion that she "take care of" the pregnancy now and have a "real baby" at some point in the future. And then there was Bella, in which a struggling single woman ends up with an unplanned pregnancy and intends to abort, only to end up reconsidering after a concerned friend offers to help.

Ellen Page as Juno, Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker

And now, there is Juno, which is arguably the funniest and most meaningful of the lot. The film stars Ellen Page as the youngest mother of them all, a whip-smart high-school student named Juno MacGuff who discovers that she is in the family way after a single sexual experience with her best friend and bandmate, a semi-dorky track star named Paulie Bleeker (Superbad's Michael Cera).

The film's early scenes play on the idea that teenagers these days have become quite casual about sexual matters—Juno's friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) offers to call the abortion clinic for her, just like she did for one of their friends—but things take an unexpected turn when Juno shows up at the clinic itself. Standing outside is a classmate named Su-Chin (Valerie Tian), who holds a pro-life placard and chants, insistently but not aggressively, "All babies want to get borned!"

Juno shrugs Su-Chin off at first, but as she sits in the lobby, something else Su-Chin said—that her baby has fingernails—sticks in Juno's mind, underscoring the humanity of the unborn fetus. In fact, it sticks in her mind so much that, before long, Juno stands up and walks right back out of the clinic—much to the delight of Su-Chin, who beams, "God appreciates your miracle!"

Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the hopeful adoptive parents

This is the one and only time that we see Su-Chin, and what with her bad grammar and earnest sloganeering, she may come across as a bit of a stereotype. But the story hinges on her, so it is worth noting the small but significant part she plays in convincing Juno to carry her baby to term—a decision that becomes the first step on a humorous, confusing, and ultimately moving path towards Juno's greater maturity. Put simply: because Juno accepts her pregnancy, she grows up.

Juno recognizes, however, that she is not ready to raise the child, so she looks in the classifieds for a couple that wants to adopt, and she finds one in the comfortably middle-class Mark and Vanessa Loring (The Kingdom co-stars Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). But there are hints, too subtle for Juno, that the Lorings might not be on quite the same page. Vanessa desperately wants a child, but Mark doesn't seem to share her enthusiasm. And when Juno discovers that Mark is a musician too, he strikes up a friendship with her that threatens to cross a boundary or two.

Juno is the first film written by Diablo Cody, a blogger and former stripper who knows how to come up with hip, clever lines and so-old-they're-cool-again pop-culture references ("Thundercats are go!" cries Juno when she goes into labor). But even better than that is the way the film goes beneath the hipster surface and gives many of its characters an extra dimension that goes beyond Juno's perception of them. In short, this is a film that empathizes with all of its main characters.

J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's parents

Vanessa, for example, seems rather uptight when we first meet her, so much so that you wonder if you would really want to give your child to her; but later on, Juno bumps into Vanessa at a shopping mall and offers to let Vanessa feel her belly—and there is genuine, sympathetic suspense as we wait to see whether the baby will kick and, in some sense, begin to bond with its would-be future adoptive mother.

next page... |  1 of 3 | last page