Juno was one of the most oddly surprising movies of 2007. Much like Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the story focuses on the journey rather than the destination. We experience the relationships between people and a strange, but loving family dynamic created by screenwriter Diablo Cody.
16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page of Hard Candy [2005]) has sex with best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera of Superbad [2007] one night from supposedly being bored, and unintentionally gets pregnant. After a brief consideration to get an abortion, June decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. By the time she confesses to her parents, Juno’s already got a perfect couple picked out of the local Pennysaver paper.
Adoptive parents Vanessa (Jennifer Garner of Elektra [2005]) and Mark (Jason Bateman of TV’s Arrested Development) are a typical upper-class married couple, but unable to have kids of their own. Juno realizes early on that as just a teenager, she’s not remotely close to being ready for a baby. Vanessa, on the other hand, feels she was just “born to be a mother.” She is freakishly obsessed with having a child.
From there, Juno continues to visit them occasionally during her pregnancy to keep them informed of their child’s development. But it’s Mark and Juno that begin to develop a close relationship. He has a dream to be a rock star and shares his love for rock music and cheesy horror films. But eventually Juno discovers that he may just be a child himself. And while Vanessa is first seen as a neat and clean perfectionist, her character develops into a potentially great mother.
There is a terrific scene when Vanessa and Juno run into each other at the mall. I thought this scene would be about Vanessa’s embarrassment when her friends discover she’s adopting a child from a 16-year-old. Instead Vanessa’s character shines as she holds Juno’s belly, trying to get “her baby” to kick. In this scene, you see how much Vanessa can’t wait to love this child.
Knowing Juno was about a pregnant teenager, the story went in another direction than I had expected. It wasn’t so much about her being an outcast in high school or alienated from her fellow classmates because of her circumstance, nor was it about her struggle with trying to gain back her parents’ love and trust. In fact, her relationships with her parents and friends are probably what keep her the most grounded and sincere.
Despite being pregnant, Juno’s relationship with her girlfriend Leah (Olivia Thirby) doesn’t change at all. They even attend the ultrasound appointments together. But it’s Juno’s relationship with her parents that is the most touching. They take Juno’s news with poise and continue to support her throughout the entire process, with some witty humor on the side. While Juno’s belly grows, her dad calls her “big puffy version of Juno” in a loving tone.
Then, of course, there’s Juno and Paulie’s relationship, which may be the most confusing one in the movie. Are they dating; are they not? Do they love each other, or is it just a fling? There isn’t too much interaction with Juno and Paulie throughout the film since she gets the sense early on that Paulie has no clue how to handle the situation. So she makes her own decision without Paulie’s input, but continues to say a brief hello as they cross paths at school.
I was somewhat disappointed I didn’t see too much of Cera’s character. After viewing Superbad, I wanted more of Michael’s innocent and humorous presence. Although there is a weird fixation on Paulie’s love for orange-flavored Tic-Tacs and his dedication to the school’s track team, Cera’s character was somewhat minimal.
Kristin’s Grade: B+
Director: Jason Reitman
Screenwriter: Diablo Cody
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Running Time: 96 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for mature thematic material, sexual content and language)
