Juno (2007) Starring Ellen Page, Jason Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K.Simmons, Alison Janney, Rainn Wilson, Olivia Thirlby, Eileen Pedde, Daniel Clark, Valerie Tian, Aman Johal, Emily Perkins, Candice Accola, Eve Harlow, Kirsten Williamson, Emily Tennant, Derek Mann.

Directed by Jason Reitman.

Running time: 96 minutes.

Rating: PG-13

"They make his junk smell like pie"

Uber-intelligent and unrelentingly verbose Minnesota teen Juno MacGuff (Page - a tiny Canadian actress with kind of a Tara Fitzgerald quality) with a black belt in sarcasm and her own hip argot gets pregnant by her fastidious, obedient and suitably dorky best guy friend/bandmate Paulie Bleeker (Cera). She has chosen the perfect sire for her future offspring and can't resist getting her flake on with the kindred soul.

Yet they are both only sixteen years old and she isn't even sure she wants to go steady with him. Instead she illustrates her affection by leaving abandoned furniture in his yard and dozens of containers of orange tic-tacs in his mailbox. Her beau is presumably smitten just enough to forego getting a restraining order.

Can one then see the biting satire here as Juno promptly attempts to order up an abortion on her hamburger phone? This is clever but not very subtle framing for the fact North America has become so overpopulated, irresponsible and dominated by fastfood culture that pregnant brats are ordering up abortions like fast food. Juno then has second thoughts when she begins to figure out that an abortion might in fact be less of a trip than she thought.

The self-important anti-abortion protester outside the clinic almost convinces Juno to have the abortion using the same arguments that pro-lifers continually embarrass themselves with. You know the kind - ones that only work on people who are deeply spiritual already, profoundly stupid and deferential or have just a weak gag reflex when shown pictures of fetuses burned with salt solution. The people who make these kinds of simplistic arguments often seem to personify the case in favor for terminating a pregnancy.

Science generally acknowledges intellect to be hereditary. Since Juno and her boyfriend are intellectual (though careless) and uncommonly narcissistic she opts to have the child and put it up for adoption in hopes a worthy couple will remove her burden yet help the fruit of her loins reach the same sustained level of righteous cynicism and unrestrained verbosity she has. After

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