by Ginger Voight

Created on: March 25, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2010

From the trailer, the audience went into the theater knowing a couple of things.

One: The lead character Juno is a special kind of quirky. Whether this was an advertisement or a warning, one cannot be sure.

Two: A teenage girl struggles with an unplanned pregnancy and the difficult decisions that follow.

In short, we knew that a quirky teenage girl was going to deal with getting pregnant in slightly humorous and completely offbeat way.

This is punctuated from the early scene as Juno (named for a Roman goddess not the Alaskan capital) attempts to shake away that dreaded plus sign on her stick test and is told by the deadpan clerk. "That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet."

This screenplay, written by first time scribe Diablo Cody, won the Oscar for "Best Original". I believe this was done in spite of rather than the inclusion of the almost-too-clever dialogue.

From the opening credits, we understood that Juno didn't act like, look like, think like or speak like anyone else.

In trying to make the other characters as colorful and unique, it felt like the dialogue was a bit forced. There were too many quips that, instead of inspiring laugh out loud laughter, triggered amused grins. It was understood that it was supposed to be funny, but it was almost like adding that extra clove of garlic in the sauce.

A little too overwhelming for maximum effectiveness.

That being said, it felt like Ms. Cody got into a groove when the story finally started to gel. With the introduction of the straight laced adoptive parents, Juno finally got her moment to shine. Side by side with the cynical not-quite-grown father to be and the manic, perfectionist OCD case study of the mother to be, Juno's unique character stole the scene. No other character ever won it back, and wisely for our screenwriter, she no longer tried to make them.

The "too clever" dialogue became well placed and poignant and the audience began to respond more with genuine laughter.

If any character ever displayed strength in vulnerability, it was Juno MacGuff. And it's that story that steals the thunder from any kind of assumptions along the way.

While Ms. Cody keeps us entertained with her left hand, in her right hand she wove a story of romance, redemption and purpose.

Thanks to the total commitment of Ellen Page to her character, as well as the brilliant but subtle performances by Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney - the filmmakers and cast wove together a very tender ode to adolescence, family, love and motherhood.

A-

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