Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Culture

There is an oddness and a greatness in this teenage pregnancy comedy. Seldom is there a teen flick that captures the intelligence and sarcasm associated with the portrayed generation but this film nails it. One of the last movies of 2007, Juno is still worth seeing in 2008.

This eccentric plot centers around Juno (Ellen Page, X-Men: The Last Stand), a teenage musician with a sense of humor as dry as Lybia. As she slurps down Sunny Delight, she finds out she's pregnant. Refreshingly, the movie does not center around the pregnancy itself, but the people in her life that help her deal with it. She soon finds a couple to adopt her child, and tries to continue life as usual with her part-time lover/full-time friend Bleeker (Michael Cera, Arrested Development), her unorthodox parents and the growing bump under her 'Evil Taco' t-shirt.

The acting is superb in this movie. Despite my real-life commitments, I fell in love with Page as the quick-witted protagonist. She played Juno with such backhanded maturity that I felt as if I was in high school again (for better or worse). Beyond that, her enthusiasm brings a lovable suspension of melodrama. Cera is his usual charming-deadpan-awkward self. It works perfectly for him, though I'd like to see him play a different character soon. J.K. Simmons (Mac McGuff) and Allison Janney (Bren McGuff) are very believable as the kind of people who could raise Juno: they aren't afraid of looking dysfunctional, because they obviously do function, albeit abnormally. The standout supporting characters are Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the adoptive parents. An audience member may not like them, but one can definitely empathize with them both.

Diablo Cody, the screenwriter, is an off-beat character herself, and it is reflected in her script. The dialogue has a unique voice that is consistent throughout. Some may complain that the teenagers speak unnaturally (large vocabularies and massive amounts of uncommon slang), but the point is not the way they speak. It is instead, the measure of confidence and spontaneity in their voices. Characters are well crafted, jokes are wisely used, and events are not magically solved. Of note is Jason Bateman's character, Mark, who suffers from a real problem and tries to remedy it in a very realistic manner. He can be likable at times and cruel at others, which shows true depth.

Jason Reitman directed this film with a lot of honesty. The actors portray that honesty in every frame, and in Reitman's chosen media of close-ups and stationary shots, he puts the audience in the role of close personal observer. Reitman expertly reveals the physical components of the story, without it becoming too clichè.

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