Juno

I must admit that I had reservations going into JUNO. I'm not sure why I had such dread. I didn't mind Diablo Cody's script for JENNIFER'S BODY. I really like Ellen Page. I adored her in Drew Barrymore's WHIP IT. She's cute.

I know this is a sin when I talk with my fellow horror fans on the imdb horror message board, to even use the word "cute", but I just can't help but develop warm feelings when I watch Ellen Page in JUNO. There I said it, good to get it off my chest and just admit it and move on.



In regards to the situation, a pregnant teen who herself really contributed to her current dilemma, I was surprised at how mature the script is in regards to the girl handling this new development.

Maybe, this film's handling of her dilemma may seem a bit unusual(how the parents aren't engaged with Juno in a heated exchange of words regarding the pregnancy, just disappointed in her decision making during that time)and not as we normally might recognize it being carried out as parents find that their teenage daughter has become impregnated and wishes to give it over for adoption, but I have to admit it was refreshing to see it treated this way.

JK Simmons and Allison Janney were a delight to me as Juno's concerned, but considerate parents who are pillars of sound advice and handle the situation with a resolve I was most impressed with. They acknowledge their disappointment in her, but stand by her..it doesn't end with a cascade of screaming heads and slamming doors.

She actually instigated the sex with Michael Cera, and loves him. It's clearly obvious these two have such warm feelings for each other. It's of the puppy love variety, but unlike pregnancy movies and television shows, JUNO has these two kids actually growing closer as the term comes to it's conclusion. There are these heart-tugging scenes like when Cera feels of Juno's stomach to hear the baby inside, how Juno leaves a special something(s)for Cera in his mailbox, and them laying together on her hospital bed after the infant is born.



We watch as she meets suburban yuppies Juno chooses as the future parents of her unborn child. Justin Bateman and Jennifer Gardner are the married couple. Clearly from the get-go, Justin doesn't want a child(and is just looking for a reason to leave his wife, obviously controlled by Gardner who seems to run his life, making all the decisions, in essence, malnourishing his manhood)and strikes up a friendship with Juno. Through her, his past loves reawaken, his passion for music and the freedom he had before marriage to a control freak.

Like the treatment of the announcement regarding the pregnancy between daughter and parents, Justin's plans to divorce Jennifer after it is established, is also handled in more mature manner, without the emotional fireworks/fanfare. It certainly seems that Cody wishes to change of the dynamic of such scenes which often result in people shouting at each other, and explosive anger erupting uncontrollably. In this film, however, people handle the surprise of life altering decisions with a reserve and temperment I personally found rather startling.

Interesting enough, I haven't dwelt on the dialogue at any length. I think you'll either like the way Cody words her characters or not. I would be lying if I said I wasn't cracking up at how Juno talks. I love the English language and how it can be used to express how characters are represented in movies. I do see the John Hughes influence in how Cody shapes her teen characters, gives them distinct personalities, and defines them with little details.

It's inevitable that JUNO will undoubtably annoy/irritate certain audiences who find Cody's wordspeak a trial to listen to. Not me, I don't mind her living vicariously through these characters, and I think bits of who she is defines various characters and their surroundings in this movie. But, it's Ellen Page, so wise beyond her years, who breathes such life into the part which Cody writes. I admit that I was completely won over, and I can see why many others were as well.