CINEMA: Juno (Part 2)

‘Quirky’ is one of the most irritating and unfair tags a movie can be landed with. It’s the lazy critic’s catch-all term for something that doesn’t quite fit into one of their neatly labelled boxes, and it has been the kiss of death for many perfectly good films. However, having fallen in love with this week’s best release, if anyone dares to label Juno as ‘quirky’, they shall face a fate worse than the extended cut of Lord of the Rings. This smart, warm, dark comedy deserves as many viewers as possible

When cynical 16-year-old tomboy Juno discovers she is pregnant, she decides that the best thing to do is to give up the child for adoption. However – as these things tend to go in films – plans don’t run smoothly, and Juno ends up dealing with things ‘way above her maturity level’.

Let’s be clear from the very beginning, Juno is no heavy-handed morality tale. It doesn’t glorify teenage pregnancy, but neither does the protagonist end up a homeless crack-addict. Instead, it takes a different approach, and focuses on a character who knows that she’s made a stupid mistake, but deals with it in the best way she can. Unlike other US films of late that have revolved around the issue of unplanned pregnancy, Juno gives more than just a passing mention to abortion, and although it doesn’t delve as deep as it could, it deserves praise for not deferring to our neo-con friends across the pond and skirting the issue entirely.

Director Jason Reitman, brings together a superb script, perfect cast, brilliant soundtrack and nice clean cinematography in such a well-rounded fashion, it’s almost enough to make you forget his last outing – 2005’s lacklustre Thank You For Smoking. The sharp screenplay bristles with wit and originality – making Juno a hard film to dislike. The emotional highs and lows are powered along by a tough beating heart and are held together by a strong thread of humour that stays with us throughout.

Each character has a depth which is lacking in many other films of this type. From JK Simmons’ gruff, blue collar, ex-military dad who is surprisingly loving and supportive, to Alison Janney’s dog-obsessed stepmother who looks out for Juno like she was her own, no-one here is a cliché, and is another reason why Juno is so deserving of such lavish praise. From top to bottom, the casting is perfect – including Juno’s geeky babyfather played by Michael Cera, and Jason Bateman’s henpecked rock musician-turned advert-composer. The real star here though, is Ellen Page as the eponymous Juno. Following her frightening breakout performance two years ago in Hard Candy, it was clear that she was a starlet to watch, and her turn as Juno reinforces her place in the firmament.

There just aren’t enough good things to say about Ellen Page – and if this reads like a love letter, it’s because it is, and the filmmaker obviously felt the same way – giving the young star room to breathe and steal every scene she appears in – even against established thesps like Janney and Simmons. It’s testament to the smartness of the writing combined with the warmth emitted from Page, that even though she is playing a knocked-up smartarse teenager, we have endless sympathy and affection towards Juno. She may have the vocabulary and smarts of someone twenty years older, but when she tries to give Bateman’s character a musical education by playing Mott The Hoople, we’re reminded of just how painfully young and inexperienced she really is.

Although the film is, at times, far from realistic (witness the parents’ reaction to their daughter’s pregnancy) it is nonetheless still relatable on all levels, and the hope and poignancy that permeates every frame is reason enough to forgive these small criticisms.

With its neat subtleties, stylised opening credits, cool yet unobtrusive soundtrack, clever script and inspired casting, Juno feels like a hybrid of Napoleon Dynamite and Ghost World directed by Wes Anderson. Yes, it really is that good

Funny and feel-good, Juno has already marked itself out as a contender for film of the year.     Mike Shaw