Review of Juno (2007) by Lane Z — 28 Jul 2016

A little late to the game for this one, but on board no less, Juno is a fun and smart comedy written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman who has been attached in varying capacities to other top-notch films in the last 20 years.

Ellen Page gives us a very honest interpretation of a young 16-year-old thrown into chaos when she finds out the only time she ends up having sex leads to pregnancy. So while the focus isn't so much on the occurrence of the act (they only use about 2 minutes of the opening for establishing it), the meat of the film lies with her relationship to a family wanting to adopt her future kid.

She's the typical teenager who's level of maturity rises above many adults, but underlying that still rests someone too out of their depth at that age. The themes here are pretty adult for a movie about someone as young as this.

The supporting cast of Michael Cera, Allison Janney, JK Simmons, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman add to the very "real" interpretation of emotions running through these characters.

It's a little short on time and breezes along at a brisk pace accompanied by some stellar and fun dialogue. The resolution here is a win-win for everyone involved, and Juno deserves to be recognized as one of our best.