Juno (2007)

What I expected:

I was put off by the title of the film. Juno suggested Alaska to me, which in turn suggested insight into the minds of those that choose to live apart from the rest of us, which did not appeal. Pair that with a teen that gets knocked up and chooses to keep the baby AND all the accolades heaped upon the film, and I figured wrist-slitting was a definite possibility. I have learned through painful experience, that just because the pre-release hype says “funny”, and “best film of the year”, that does not always make it so.

What I got:

Let me start out by making it clear, that the movie is not set in Alaska. The story does not induce suicide attempts. It is in fact a smart, satisfyingly quirky movie, with lots of laughs and enough un-triteness to get you through the emotional tough parts.  Ellen Page is spot-on as Juno – the self-aware junior in high-school who decides to have sex with her best friend Paulie (Michael Cera), in order to show him that she loves him. The best friend is a 16 and as such he is a willing, if un-witting participant in the proceedings.

The result is obvious, and the scenes involving the pregnancy test – administered in the convenience store bathroom – are hilarious and make you instantly like Juno. She has a sarcastic wit, with literacy and pop-culture depth that carries the movie. J.K. Simmons of Spiderman fame, and The West Wing’s Allison Janney give strong performances as her dad and step-mom. I think we could all wish to have such cool parents.

Juno decides to carry the pregnancy to term, and offer the child up for adoption. The adoptive parents are played by Jennifer Garner who owns the role as the super-mom-to-be. Jason Bateman is also credible as the formerly hip, band-member, husband who has sold out as a TV-commercial jingle composer, who is not sure he is ready to be a dad. This is where the triteness threatens the movie, but is narrowly avoided through believable choices made by the characters.  Juno is a strong-willed woman, and her almost complete lack of emotion for the child she is carrying seems hard to believe until you realize she is just very good at covering up her inner life and it all makes sense.

Through it all, Paulie remains charmingly dim-witted– qualities Michael Cera knows well. The role is a dorkier, but less disturbing, version of George Michael whom he portrayed so brilliantly in Arrested Development. The running outfit alone will make you cringe, but to his credit, Paulie himself is not disturbed by such things.

Overall, the movie deals intelligently with the choices a young woman faces, once unintentionally pregnant, without being preachy. I came to like Juno, the woman, and the movie, a lot.  It partially restored my faith in pre-release hype. Off-putting though it can be, it can also sometimes be right on – Titanic not withstanding.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.