Movies

At 16 Juno MacGuff is into 70s Punk Rock and Slasher films; she lives with her Dad, Stepmom and half-sister; she is a junior in high school; oh, and she's pregnant. Juno tells the story of the girl by the same name as she faces the choice of how to handle her situation. She is not married to, or even dating the baby's father. She is, as already mentioned, only 16 years old. She makes an interesting decision and the movie goes from there.

Rarely will I address the soundtrack or the casting of a movie. I normally tune out the music (sorry for the pun) and will address only individual casting decisions. I have no choice but to talk about both here.

Music is one of the comforting, yet (at times) conflict-inspiring, elements in Juno. With it being so important to characters, it is only appropriate that more attention be given to the soundtrack. The music was not ambient noise; it was used almost as a narrative technique and also to ease transitions between scenes. Music played a key role in the film and was used perfectly throughout.

I cannot remember the last movie I saw where there was not a person out of place. Each person who participated in Juno seemed perfect for his or her role.

Ellen Page (Juno) showed a lot of versatility as the movie's title character. She was always in control of the role, even when it meant playing someone so conflicted. Juno was strong, but vulnerable. She was smart, but ignorant. She was mature, but too young to know any better. Her personality was abrasive, which was not eased with the amount of slang that she piled on to every conversation early in the movie. But that changed. As the movie went on, Juno did what 16-year-old girls do: she grew up.

I had not experienced the "magic" of Michael Cera until Juno. He has received such an incredible amount of praise from his role on "Arrested Development" and his part in Superbad, but I never watched the former and he did not impress me in the latter. But in Juno he was perfect. However, I sure hope I am not the first person to point out the stark similarity in his performances. Beware the typecast Michael, even though it is probably too late.

Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner deserve some praise for selling their parts so well. And while everyone was so good, one person rose above the rest: J.K. Simmons, who played Juno's father. He was a lot of the movie's comedic relief, but that was such a special character for what his relationship meant to Juno. My appreciation wasn't entirely for the part, J.K. seemed to bring something extra to the it. His performance was one of my favorites of the year.

From my -- however limited -- experience, Juno was an original story with a unique perspective on one pregnant teen. The story flirted with "afternoon special," but never went over the edge. Any scene which could have led to sappy cliché was immediately steered clear, usually with humor. While I would not classify Juno as a "comedy," it definitely had some of the most genuinely funny dialogue I have heard. As the credits roll you will find that Juno was a story you would not normally snuggle up to, but preconceived notions be damned! Both touching and funny, Juno was a very good movie.

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