by Rebecca Mikulin

Created on: February 12, 2011

Sixteen-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) likes to push the limits. Nothing pleases her more than to rub people the wrong way, shock those around her, or in any other way prove that she's not one of the pack. For the most part, her father (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother (Allison Janney) tolerate her shenanigans and let her be her own person - even when she accidentally gets pregnant with Paulie Bleaker (Michael Cera), another of the school outcasts. After the initial knee-jerk reaction of, "How do I get rid of it?" and a failed trip to an abortion clinic, Juno combs the local mini-paper and finds the perfect adoptive parents for her baby (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman). However, she still has a lot of challenges between now and the delivery date.

While Ellen Page may be better-known for her roles in Inception and X-men, she first caught my attention with her role in An American Crime, a movie depicting the true story of Sylvia Likens, who suffered some of the most horrific abuse known to history in her short life. That role showed very clearly that this young actress was up for anything, and that the breadth of her skill would be envied in many actors twice her age. In Juno, she showed a few more facets of that talent, and I can't think of anyone better for the role.

One of the things that stood out about this film is that the characters actually looked and acted like teenagers. So many movies grab actors in their mid-20s who act like seasoned players on the dating scene rather than teenaged kids. While "truly teenager" is the mold that Michael Cera has pretty much been cast in for the majority of his career so far, I think this is the first time I've seen him in a role that didn't annoy me half to death and make me feel like scratching my eyes out from sheer boredom.

Juno certainly caused a few waves when it first came out, which is precisely why I waited a while before finally giving in to curiosity and watching the film. I don't like watching movies based on hype, because they rarely live up to it. While I suppose I can see why some elements would be controversial, especially in fundamentalist Christian households, it is a fairly realistic scenario that is, unfortunately, played out in increasing numbers every year among the mid-teen population.

Overall, this was a well thought out film with some very good acting, it was paced well, and included minimal melodrama. It does not shy away from language, open discussion about sex, and so on, so it definitely would require some parental discretion in determining the appropriate age at which to allow kids to watch it. If you like quirky comedies with a bit of dark humor, this is definitely a good choice. The story is detailed with well-rounded characters, and the subjects presented can help get good side discussions going after it's over.

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