CINEMA: Juno (Part 1)

There seem to have been so many ‘baby’ films around lately that you could be forgiven for thinking that this could easily be put on the shelf beside them all and dismissed as another rom-com with a twist. Except this film wouldn’t be on that shelf. You’d be more likely to find it next to the Judy Blume books. Approaching the pending teenage motherhood story from an offbeat, almost black comedy angle, Juno manages to avoid contemporary comparisons and become a film of some note.

The eponymous, lovable, slightly kooky Juno (Ellen Page) decides she wants to have sex and seduces fellow geek Bleeker (Michael Cera). Discovering she is pregnant she matter-of-factly decides to find the perfect parents to adopt her unborn child. She finds Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) who appear to be the perfect suburban couple. Of course as these things invariably go in real life, it’s not long before the cracks that start to grow in the seemingly perfect plan mirror the growth not only in Juno’s physical appearance but her mental growth into adulthood.

The script is utterly brilliant (‘she’s not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed’) and the attention to detail sets the scene beautifully, from Juno’s quirky burger phone to the excellent soundtrack. Star of the show is undoubtedly Page, a name we are bound to hear lots of in the future. Even director Jason Reitman has been quoted as saying she “can go from hilarious to heartbreaking in seconds flat.” Juno is a film that stays with you long after leaving the cinema, be it for the moral thought-provoking story, or for the out loud giggle moments it manages to shoehorn in.

Far from the usual teenage angst movie or schmaltzy ‘baby’ film this is funny, charming film that we can all identify with. Lynne Malkin