Juno
Jason Reitman’s Juno must be the best comedy of 2007. Dealing with the messy issue of teenage pregnancy, the film is touching, witty and insightful, without slipping into mawkishness or didacticism. Ellen Page positively shines in her role as the plucky and kind-hearted Juno, whilst professional stripper-turned-screenwriter Diablo Cody fashions a potentially turgid storyline into a brightly articulate comedy.
Ellen Page plays Juno McGuff, a 16 year old high school student who decides that it’s time she experienced sex, and enlists her less than eager best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) to help. The inevitable happens and Juno initially opts for a quick abortion, until she takes a trip to the drab, industrial estate clinic and gets cold feet. Juno thinks she is too young to raise the child herself, and, following the suggestion of her cheerleading friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), sets about finding a pair of adoptive parents through adverts placed in the local free newspaper.
This is followed by a wonderful, heart-warming scene when Juno breaks the news to her father Mac (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother Bren (Allison Janney). Veering away from the stereotype neurotic teen-comedy parents, Juno’s are grounded, discerning, and eminently loveable. Ever the pragmatist, Bren’s first instinct is to ply her stepdaughter with vitamins. They also possess a warm sense of humour which diffuses even the hairiest of situations. By contrast, Paulie’s mother (Darla Vandenbossche) is a buttoned-up, stiff-lipped fatso who keeps a tight rein on her son’s supposed innocence and casts a disapproving eye on his friendship with the spunky Juno.
Mac accompanies Juno as she goes to meet the would-be adoptive parents in their swish suburban home. Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) are rich, welcoming and desperate for the parental fulfilment that nature has denied them. Whilst Vanessa seems uptight and controlling, her husband - a would-be rocker who now writes jingles for television commercials - instantly clicks with Juno, who ignores her stepmother’s warnings about spending too much time with a married man.
Diablo Cody’s screenplay, based mainly on her own experience and the personal stories of friends, is incredibly fun and uncommonly intelligent, exciting laughter of genuine delight. There are moments of instinctive, light comedy, such as Bren’s tart reaction to a nurse who tut-tuts about teenage mothers at Juno’s scan, and of poignant insight, including a heartrending scene in which Mac and Juno discuss the nature of true love. One of my favourite scenes in the film is when Juno and Vanessa run into each other at the shopping mall. Vanessa asks to feel Juno’s stomach, and the baby gives a kick. It’s an intimate moment, when the women’s relationship changes from being a contractual agreement to a sororal bond. Yet the film is never allowed to veer into sentimentalism. A group of uniformed runners makes an appearance in several scenes, indicating that there are other people in the world who are oblivious to Juno’s immediate problems.
Ellen Page is absolutely fantastic in the title role, delivering her lines with a razor sharp wit which is timed to perfection, but never overplayed. There is something assuredly courageous in the way she pushes her burgeoning belly through the crowds of sniggering schoolchildren, yet her teenage bravado and instinctive wit belies her underlying vulnerability. Page is only 20, and I can only imagine we’ll see far more of her in the coming years.
