Ellen Page (“X-Men: The Last Stand”) rises to the challenge of playing Juno, combining a monotonic voice and sassy attitude to make for a brilliant performance. Juno is a relatively normal (if overly acerbic) junior in high school, until she discovers that her one-time tryst with nerdy Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) on a Lay-Z-Boy chair results with her being “for shizz up the spout.”
Being only 16 years old, Juno has no desire to keep the baby and via her hamburger phone (coolest communication device ever, by the way), schedules “a hasty abortion.” Once she arrives at the Women Now clinic—which helps women now—Juno is confronted by a pro-life classmate who informs her that her fetus has fingernails. This fact, coupled with the clinic’s excessively informative receptionist, causes Juno to flee with the resolve to put her baby up for adoption. The only thing left to do is find the perfect prospective parents.
This is where Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, respectively) enter the picture. After finding their adoption advertisement in the Penny Saver, Juno decides that the affluent Lorings would be the best candidates to raise her and Bleeker’s baby.
Upon further inspection, however, we discover that Mark is an unenthusiastic father-to-be, reluctant to abandon his adolescent tendencies for diapers and custard-colored nurseries. On the other end of the spectrum, Vanessa’s inability to conceive has not at all dampened her desire to be a mother, but enlivened it. Both Bateman and Garner bring soul to their characters, but it is Garner who shines with sincerity. She is a true joy to watch.
Other notable actors featured in the film include J. K. Simmons (“Spiderman”) and Allison Janney (“Hairspray”), respectively playing Juno’s father and stepmother, Mac and Bren MacGuff, whose peaceful blue-collar life receives a blow with the unexpected announcement of Juno’s pregnancy. The MacGuffs would prefer to hear their daughter was expelled from school or addicted to drugs, although to their credit, they do not freak out. Instead they pledge to support whatever decisions Juno makes and help out however possible.
In addition to her wonderful parents, Juno is also blessed with two supportive best friends—tongue-in-cheek cheerleader, Leah (Olivia Thirlby, who should have a promising future in comedy), and the aforementioned baby-daddy Bleeker. While Juno is grateful to Leah for remaining loyal to her in the face of the rest of her high school’s disdain, she is less appreciative of sweet-natured Bleeker, whom she continuously pushes away with her negative attitude and her rejection of his feelings towards her. Although it is apparent that Juno reciprocates some of poor Bleeker’s feelings, she is at the same time smitten with Mark Loring, with whom she shares a taste in early punk music and horror films. Cera brings a certain degree of innocence and naiveté to Bleeker, which renders him at once a believable teenage boy and also a sympathetic character for whom the audience feels a sense of compassion because of the way Juno sometimes treats him.
With a great cast, an entertaining script and a soundtrack that will remain in your head for days, “Juno” is one of those movies audiences will want to see again and again. Despite its amusing dialogue and Cody’s talent for converting any serious situation into a joke, “Juno” carries its weight in emotion and heart, helped along by Page’s dynamic performance. The story follows a girl’s abrupt transition to adulthood, and Page handles this with such grace and ease that she is currently one of the front-runners in the race for this year’s Best Actress Oscar. Honest to blog, “Juno” is undoubtedly the funniest and most heartfelt movie of the year.