''Juno'' is director Jason Reitman's follow up to the critically acclaimed 2006 film ''Thank You For Smoking.'' Overall, I thought ''Thank You For Smoking'' was an average film, but under the direction of Reitman, actor Aaron Eckhart gave an amazing performance. Due to word-of-mouth, I went to see ''Juno'' with high expectations. Only seeing actress Ellen Page in two films so far (''Hard Candy'' and ''X-Men: The Last Stand''), I have a clear view of her strengths and weaknesses as an actress. In ''Juno,'' Page stars as the title character who is the typical ''hip'' teenager (parallel to that of her character in ''Hard Candy''). Within two minutes of the film, viewers are made aware that Juno is pregnant by her would-be boyfriend Paulie (Michael Cera of ''Superbad'' fame). Juno tells her father and step-mother (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney) about her pregnancy, in which they are shocked that she is even sexually active. Ultimately, Juno does not want to get an abortion, but wants to give up her impending baby for adoption (a nice message to the teens today about abortion). Shortly, Juno is introduced to a childless married couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) who want to adopt Juno's baby, in which she has no problem with the matter.

Honestly, I found ''Juno'' to be a somewhat predictable film albeit the revelations of certain characters (especially Bateman's Mark). Most of the heart of ''Juno'' comes from the interactions between the characters and how they grow or don't grow. It was nice to see Juno and Mark exchange witty dialogue about their preferences on music and films. Page's deadpan humor as Juno entails that the character feels that her nine months of being pregnant will be a breeze, but what Juno did not expect was her several encounters with the future adoptive parents of her baby and her unresolved feelings for Paulie. Performance-wise, Page, Bateman, and Cera do a good job. However, I had a hard time believing that Garner's sophisticated Vanessa character would be married to a man-child such as Mark. Garner never stood out to me as being a great actress, so I didn't have high expectations to what she would bring to the film. To writer Diablo Cody's credit, the script is edgy and hip, but it gets a little too hip sometimes throughout the film. For the past four years, Fox Searchlight has released a lot of independent films that have been perceived as being ''overrated'' due to the critical acclaim they've received; not box office numbers. In the next 25 years or so, I don't think people will be boasting about how great a film ''Juno'' was. However, the film avoids the cliche of most films dealing with teenage pregnancy.

Film Grade: B+

Learn more about this author, Byron Huguley.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Movie reviews: Juno?
We want to hear your view. Write now!