Juno (2007)
Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Diablo Cody
Starring Elliott Page, Jason Bateman, J.K Simmons, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Michael Cera
Release Date December 5th, 2007
Published December 4th 2007
We've seen movies with smart ass motormouths and quick to quip teens. What separates Juno from characters of our recent, acerbic past is a performance by Ellen Page that simply rings truer than other similar performances. Page's Juno plays like a real teenage who happens to be savvier than most of the people she meets.
Juno (Elliot Page) is just 16 but she has that typically movie worldliness that seems so rare in real life. Quick with a quip, Juno's wit belies a vulnerability that comes out when forced to confront her real feelings for her good friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Juno and Paulie had danced around their feelings for each other in typical teenage gamesmanship until one night when each took things further than expected.
The sex was the kind that teenagers often experience, fumbling yet transformative on an emotional level. There is no real sex scene in Juno but visual and verbal allusions tell us all we need to know about the encounter. More important to the movie is the result of the brief encounter, Juno is pregnant.
Now she must tell her parents, Dad Mac (J.K Simmons) and stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) are both relieved and disappointed. The relief is that Juno hasn't been arrested or expelled from school, their initial suspicions when Juno when Juno sat them down for a talk. Their disappointment, typically parental, are concerns about her future and that of the unexpected grandchild.
After a brief flirtation with the big A, Juno is put off by a lone protester who tells her her baby already has fingernails, leads Juno to a more unique solution. The local Nickel Saver flyer has real advertisements for couples seeking babies. There Juno finds Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) a well to do yuppie suburban couple who seem like the perfect fit.
Looks are deceiving however as Juno bonds with Mark, a frustrated musician turned jingle writer, who longs for the days when it was just him and his band and his music. Meanwhile baby fevered Vanessa puts off all around her with her baby preparations and constant nervousness over whether Juno will actually give up the child.
Writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman wring some real surprises out of these characters whose lives unfold in a most unique and engaging manner. Holding it all together is Page's Juno whose vulnerability behind the quick witted bravado is the heart of the picture.
Page more than deserves the Oscar nomination she was recently rewarded with. The layers she brings to what could have been an overly familiar, too smart for her own good, teenage adult are quite surprising. The acerbic teen in movies more often than not sounds like a mini-adult with the writers of Seinfeld whispering in their ears. Juno too is quick with the quip but somehow Elliott Page makes it feel real.
She is aided greatly by a skilled supporting cast; that seem just the type of people who could bring about a personality like Juno. J.K Simmons as Juno's dad may not be hip and his wit is not as cutting as his daughters but his befuddled skepticism and earnest curiosity give a definite idea of where Juno came from. Especially when it's combined with the no nonsense toughness and good heartedness of Juno's stepmom played brilliantly by Allison Janney.
And then there is the exceptional Michael Cera who captures the awkwardness of youth like few actors we've ever seen. His Paulie is quirky and weird and clumsy but true hearted and in love with Juno whether she is willing to see it or not. The relationship is a near perfect depiction of teenage love, unlike anything we've seen before.
Juno and Paulie are not Dawson's Creek characters who say all the right things all the time or seem understanding beyond their years. This is how real teenagers express their love with metaphoric hair pulling and subtext filled bickering because they can't express or understand their true feelings. The love is clumsy and faltering and so very true.
It is at once astonishing and not all that surprising that all involved are so very young. For director Jason Reitman Juno is only a second feature. This is writer Diablo Cody's screen debut and for star Elliot Page, they are almost a veteran appearing in their third feature outing following the well reviewed indie Hard Candy and the big budget actioner X-Men: The Last Stand.
It is their youth that invigorates Juno and gives the film its truth. They know these characters and this situation because they are so very close to them in terms of experience and age. Youthful exuberance is what enlivens the whole of Juno and makes it such a pleasure to behold.
I would be remiss if I did not also praise the soundtrack of Juno, so sadly overlooked by Oscar. The music of Juno is integral to the drama without ever overshadowing it. Nor does the music act as Greek chorus, Reitman and music supervisor Peter Afterman make near perfect use of both classic pop/alternative and newer music from bands like Belle and Sebastian and The Moldy Peaches.
The Peaches song "Anyone Else But You" provides one of the years great music moments, a coda to the film perfect in it's subtlety.
