Juno (2007)

Juno was nominated for Best Picture of 2007, the only comedy to be nominated. It's a funny movie, very clever, but perhaps a bit too in love with its own cleverness. The kids in the movie don't really sound like any high schoolers that I know (or even any college students that I know). I don't think that really matters, however, given that it is a fantasy as much as it is a comedy.

Ellen Page's Juno realizes at the beginning of the film that's she pregnant and decides to have the baby but give it up for adoption. So far, so good. However, the scene where she tells her father and stepmother (with the help of her friend) is pretty ridiculous. The parents are more moved when they find out the name of the father than when Juno tells them of her condition. They certainly don't behave as parents in real life would. If you as a viewer aren't in the realm of make-believe at this point, the film only continues in this realm of the unrealistic.

Of course, her father is incredibly supportive. Of course, her stepmother, although initially distant, comes around to be on Juno's side. Of course, there's a fight between Juno and her erstwhile boyfriend, Paulie. And, of course, it's all going to be resolved by the end of the film. No open-ended conclusions for this film.

It might sound like I didn't enjoy this film, but I really did. The dialogue is funny, and the actors are all very winning in their roles. I particularly liked Michael Cera as Paulie; this young actor is cornering the market on playing the sort of teenager who's never quite sure exactly what's going on, but he's trying to do whatever he thinks is right or appropriate at the time. And Jennifer Garner as Vanessa, the wife who desperately wants to have a baby, is a revelation here. Her interplay with Jason Bateman as her husband Mark is filled with emotional landmines. You can see just how many times they have been disappointed in the past. The scene where Juno lets Vanessa feel the baby kick, in particular, is powerful for the ways that Garner lets you see both the joy and fear that this adoptive-mother-to-be feels.

I guess my only complaint, really, would be with the trend in movies lately to have everyone be so clever all the time. Everyone speaks as if they are on camera, as if they are performing. I don't truly mind that the dialogue is unbelievable, but I do hope that people don't let this archness become too much of a continuing trend. I do enjoy some sense of realism in movies that are grounded in the common, ordinary lives of people, even if those people are pregnant teenagers.