This holiday season, audiences will be treated to a comedy that is as unexpected as the pregnancy it centers around. Juno (Fox Searchlight, Dec. 14), from director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) and first-time writer Diablo Cody, is the story of 16-year-old Juno McDuff (Ellen Page, Hard Candy), an offbeat high school student who just found out that she is pregnant. The baby’s daddy is Juno’s best friend Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera of Superbad! and “Arrested Development” fame. After a visit to an abortion clinic, Juno decides to give the baby up for adoption to willing parents, but complications arise during the months that lead up to the delivery date.
Juno is an intelligent comedic film that will make audiences laugh-hysterically, at times-but it also has heart. Her surprisingly supportive father, Mac (J.K. Simmons, Spider-Man 3), and stepmother, Bren (Allison Janney, Hairspray), help her through the pregnancy during the good and the bad, as does Juno’s friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby, United 93).
The suburban yuppy adoptive parents Mark (Jason Bateman, “Arrested Development,” Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) and Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner, The Kingdom), seem to be polar opposites as Mark and Juno become friends while overbearing breadwinner Vanessa wants a baby so desperately that she is willing to pay for it. As Juno deals with her relationships, she realizes who the most important people in her life really are, finding love in unexpected places.
Newcomer Cody masterfully captures the spirit of a girl who is forced to deal with a difficult situation at a young age. The writing is witty and heartfelt, the cast is strong and the music holds the film together as well as the acting does.
Although this holiday season looks to be chock-full of blockbusters and Oscar bait, audiences should not let the slightly less mainstream Juno slip by. Though pregnancies seem to be a recurring theme in comedy as of late (think Knocked Up and The Brothers Solomon), Juno is original and gives an excruciatingly realistic, though slightly idealistic, take on having a bun in the oven as a teenager.
