Juno

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

I love movies about kids in high school when the actors cast actually look the part! It’s really hard to take movies or TV shows seriously when a 30 year old is playing a 16 year old junior struggling with the, ‘who-do-I-bring-to-the-prom’ issues. It’s not only aesthetically easier to take, but having younger actors in these roles also adds an authenticity to the performances because they themselves don’t have a ton of life experience that they need to suppress, they can just be honest and real; very refreshing to see.

Juno is one of those ‘talked about’ films of 2007 that many think should have won the Oscar for Best Picture and now I finally know why. This is a great movie that doesn’t have to try too hard at being what it is. It’s a really heartfelt movie that’s simultaneously clever and sincere that never steps over the line and becomes preachy or ‘message-ie.’

For those not in the know, Juno tells the story of a teenage girl, played by the outstandingly talented Ellen Page, who ends up pregnant after a single night of sex with her best friend Bleek played by the hyper-realistic Michael Cera of Superbad fame. After deciding to keep the baby and put it up for adoption, Juno meets Vaneesa and Mark Loring the on the surface perfect well to do yuppie couple who desperately want a baby but can’t get pregnant on their own, so a teenager who is completely willing to give up all claims to the baby seems to be their dream come true.

Unlike the movie of the week version of this story that we’ve all seen, Juno doesn’t suddenly decide that she wants to keep the baby and raise it on her own! The conflicts in the story come from a far less melodramatic place and end up resonating in a much more truthful way than even I saw coming.

All of the performances here are award worthy. Ellen Page of course is the unquestioned lead of this film bringing a natural irreverent charm to her odd ball character who can one minute be totally at peace with the idea of having an abortion and then the next after learning that the fetus inside of her already has finger nails all bets are off and she just has to have this baby… because of the finger nails. It sounds ridiculous but she sells it and we buy it!

Michael Cera may just be playing himself in this film as he did in Superbad, but that’s OK, he seamlessly