Juno (2007) Review

(From this review onward, there will be more production details on each film)

Director: Jason Reitman

Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich (yes THAT John Malkovich!), Mason Novick and Russell Smith

Screenplay: Diablo Cody 

Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons and Olivia Thirlby 

Score: Mateo Messina 

Cinematography: Eric Steelberg

Editor: Dana E. Glauberman

Production Companies: Mandate Pictures and Mr. Mudd

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Productions

Release Date: December 5th 2007 (US)

Budget: $6.5-$7.5 million

Box Office: $231.4 million

Running Time: 96 minutes

Rating: 12/12a

'Juno' is a comedy-drama that deals with the 'taboo' (I put taboo in quotation marks since it should be discussed in some capacity) subject of teen pregnancy through it's titular character, Juno MacGuff. It received critical and commercial success, winning the Academy Award for best original screenplay and putting actress Ellen Page on the map. Does the film deserve such acclaim and more importantly, is there any way I can get that hamburger phone?

Page stars as Juno, a 16-year-old teenage girl who, after a night of passion with best friend Paulie Bleeker (Cera) becomes pregnant. She resolves to give the baby up for adoption to failed rock star turned commercial jingle composer Mark Loring (Bateman) and his wife Vanessa (Garner) but when Mark and Juno grow closer, complications arrive that put the whole adoption process in jeapordy. 

What's surprising about this film that despite it being a comedy about pregnancy, something which has happened before, this forgoes the usual cliches. The most notable of which is that instead of acting in an over-the-top matter, the characters are more calm and logical about the situation which is doubly surprising as this seems to treat teen pregnancy as less of a big deal than normal pregnancy. This does raise a bit of an issue regarding its portrayal of teen pregnancy since this calm portrayal could lead to some complaints about depicting a serious issue as something trivial. On the other hand, it is very mature about it. The characters do treat it as a problem but instead of panicking about it, they instead deal with it in a logical way. Heck the film does address that there is a stigma behind it with several characters treating Juno like an outcast, shown in a great scene where her presence parts the crowd like the Red Sea in Moses. I guess at the end of the day, this is showing how someone DOES react to teen pregnancy rather than how someone SHOULD react to teen pregnancy. Either way, I applaud the unique way it deals with the matter.

However, the film is too unique. Let me explain: there are moments where the movie is basically going FIND ME QUIRKY! FIND ME QUIRKY! Moments such as Juno showing up to Bleeker's home with a stolen chair and a tiger, Juno and her friend Leah (Thirlby) having lunch on a trophy display, Juno's room being a hipster's paradise (though that hamburger phone is awesome) and Mark's rather creepy behaviour towards her. It's not just individual moments, Juno's entire character is basically a cynical hipster with dialogue that, whilst funny, are also somewhat unnatural. 

Here's an example of what I mean: 

You see what I mean? I don't know if that was how teenagers talked back then but it sounds really weird nowadays. 

Aside from that though, there are few faults with the film. Its biggest strength lies with the performances. Ellen Page plays a star-making turn as Juno, her deadpan delivery providing most of the laughs of the film but also being emotional when needed. Though the cast is impressive, this is Page's show and she knocks it out of the park and despite being in her early 20s at the time, she was a very convincing teenager. 

That's not to discredit the others though. Michael Cera plays a likable dweeb (which for some reason I find relatable minus the 'getting a girl pregnant' part) with Bleeker and he shares good chemistry with Page in a genuinely sweet romance. Then there's the Lorings and despite Mark being a pretty deplorable character, you do understand his motives somewhat and Jason Bateman plays him well. Vanessa is a much more likable character and the scenes with her are often the most emotional moments with Jennifer Garner putting in a wonderful performance. J.K. Simmons is brilliant as usual as Juno's father with some genuinely sweet moments as well as providing the biggest laughs of the film and Allison Janney, despite having not much to do, has her moments as Juno's stepmother and it's refreshing to see a stepmother in film portrayed in a positive light. The same can be said for Olivia Thirlby as Leah since she does well with a smaller role. 

Another strength is that, at the very least, its heart is in the right place and it certainly hits the right emotions. The film can be funny with its absurdities and performances and the more emotional moments are genuinely heartfelt such as a scene where Juno's baby kicks in response to Vanessa's voice. And yes I will admit, the ending made me shed a tear. Yes shut up, even the toughest nuts must crack sometimes. I'm not made of stone.

The film's production values also scream Indiewood (a hybrid of indie films and Hollywood films) with a harsh orange colour palatte and a creative if pointless motif involving diary-like drawn animations. Reitman and Steelberg shoot this film well with a stand-out style though the mise-en-scene, like I said, is trying too hard to be quirky. The music is a bit of a let down as well as I didn't even realise that there was a score since the soundtrack mostly consists of indie music (which by the way, dominates the film so much it could give 'Suicide Squad' a run for it's money). Fortunately, the costuming is well done with some impressive pregnancy and childbirth effects. 

Overall, Juno is a very modest, funny heartfelt film with some very strong performances and a surprisingly mature approach to the topic at hand. Yes the film tries way too hard to be quirky with its dialogue and style but it also leads to some funny moments. I do see why this film received acclaim and I'm glad that Ellen Page went on to have a fairly successful career after this. I would recommend this to anyone 12 and over though I wouldn't recommend that any teenagers get pregnant because of this. This does portray teen pregnancy as an issue after all, don't let its casual approach fool you. Otherwise, watch the film and enjoy it for yourself!

This film receives 4 and a half hamburger phones out of 5.   

And yes I would like a hamburger phone...