Nappaland's MovieBlog
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JUNO (PG-13)
Plot Summary: A quirky, yet likeable, 16-year old girl gets pregnant, and chooses a couple to adopt her unborn baby.
Reason for the Rating: Mature thematic material, sexual content and language.
There are so many reasons to like this movie. It’s funny, quirky, honest, hopeful, and full of love. And, Juno deals with a subject that is delicate and emotional in a way that can only make you smile.
Juno (Ellen Page) is an offbeat, quirky high-schooler, who has one-time, experimental, casual sex with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), and ends up getting pregnant. As is common, she considers abortion, but instead settles her mind on adoption. Of course, her idea of the perfect parents are a graphic artist with an Asian, guitar-playing wife…not the kind of parents you find in the PennySaver, which is where Juno and her friend, Leah (Olivia Thirlby) turn. The people they do find are Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner), an affluent couple who live in a humungous home in the suburbs. Unable to have children, Vanessa longs to fill her heart and home with the love of a child. Juno quickly chooses this couple as the parents for her little bun in the oven.
What sets this movie apart from most other films, is its quick wit and the way it looks at a hard topic in such a positive light. You realize this isn’t going to be your normal “teenage pregnancy” story when Juno tells her parents the big news. Any normal parent might react in disappointment masked by anger, but Juno’s step-mother, Bren (Allison Janney) says, “Well, we’ll need to get you some pre-natal vitamins, they do wonders for your nails, and make you a doctor’s appointment,” while her father, Mac (J.K. Simmons), offers to join Juno when she meets Mark and Vanessa for the first time. The audience and Juno breathe a sigh of relief at the mercy extended toward their frightened child.
The movie captivates
the audience from the beginning, when we see Juno buying her third pregnancy
test of the day, after “drinking my body weight in Sunny Delight,” because “the
plus sign looks more like a division sign.” Of course, the positive is
unmistakably positive. She then camps out in front of Bleeker’s house in an
overstuffed chair, chomping on an unlit pipe, to tell him the news. The audience
is warmed and drawn in by her wit, honesty, and courage. By the end of the
movie, we are rooting for Juno, Bleeker, and Vanessa. We love her parents, and
are charmed by their unwavering support of Juno. And we want this creative girl
to find the love she longs for.
There are some scenes in Juno that are almost difficult to watch, they are so raw with emotion. At one point Juno and Leah run into Vanessa in the mall. Vanessa, who is all about appearances, ends up kneeling with her hands on Juno’s growing belly, talking to the baby she so longs to care for. Jennifer Garner was never more beautiful. And after the baby is born, well, let’s just say there are some very touching moments. It’s not often you see a movie that has the feel of a good book, where you see all the dimensions of multiple characters and love each one, but Juno is just that.
I don’t know how this could
have been a better movie. The screenplay, a first for Diablo Cody, is quick and
smart. Ellen Page is amazing in this comedy/drama, her timing is perfect and her
heart is on her sleeve. The music flows through the film, effortless and
enchanting. Everything about this movie is warm and full of life.
MOVIEBLOG RECOMMENDS:
Whether you have teenagers or not, this is a movie to see. It’s truly one of the great movies of the year. If you do have teenagers, girls or boys, make a date and see a movie that speaks to a very real issue in their generation.
AFTER THE SHOW:
• If you were in Juno’s position, how would you want your parents to react to the news?
• How would Christ have reacted to Juno? Can you think of an example in the Bible that supports your opinion?
• Why do you think Juno thought Bleeker was so cool?
JW
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Note: All movie-related graphics in this column are standard publicity/promotional shots and are owned by their respective movie studios.