Juno

A surprisingly positive, funny movie that’s enjoyed great critical success including Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Jason Reitman for directing, Diablo Cody for the script and Ellen Page for Best Actress. This is only Reitman’s second feature, Cody’s first and Page’s first leading role, which make all the nominations quite surprising as well.

Juno is an offbeat 16 year old high school junior living in suburban Minnesota who decides one fall day she’s ready to find out what sex is really like and so climbs atop meek boyfriend Paulie Bleeker. Two months and three home pregnancy tests later Juno cannot deny her experiment worked all too well. She tries to get an abortion but can’t go through with it.

Dad (J.K. Simmons) and stepmom Bren (Allison Janney) are unhappy at the news but supportive as soon as they hear she intends to give the baby up for adoption. Juno may be offbeat but she is smart enough for a 16 year old. Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason Bateman) are pretty good as the yuppy couple she decides should have her offspring despite some struggles of their own. Michael Cera, Bateman’s son on the late lamented series Arrested Development, puts in another good performance as Paulie and Olivia Thirlby is Leah, a goofy cheerleader who’s Juno’s best pal.

Diablo Cody is famous for working as stripper to support herself before making a living writing and she gives the characters very realistic attitudes and words. Reitman, who learned at the foot of his father, the great comic director Ivan Reitman, and Reitman pals like Bill Murray, does better here than in his previous film, Thank You For Smoking, helped by the not nearly as dark nature of Juno. He adopts a nice visual language using camera angles and more sunlight than expected for a Minnesota winter.

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