Review: Juno

If you can imagine a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine, then you've got Juno. Written by rising star Diablo Cody and directed by Thankyou For Smoking's Jason Reitman, this is the kind of pseudo-indie comedy which has become very popular in Hollywood recently. The brilliance of films such as this and Sideways, the film which arguably started the trend, is that the central character is so well constructed and sympathetic that by the end of the film the entire audience wants to grab them out of the screen and take them home.

This is certainly the case with the titular Juno Macguff, played with relentless charm by Ellen Page. She's a teenager in a 'condition' which has now become familiar for the under-twenties - she's pregnant. But, refreshingly, the film does not condemn her. Instead, it places us firmly by her side throughout the entire process, showing us how much more mature she is than her fellow jocks and cheerleaders, and how such an event can actually bring people closer rather than driving them apart. In a typical narrative Juno would be thrown out the house, have to give birth to the child in difficult conditions but then find that the love she has for her newborn galvanises her to start a new life elsewhere. Not here. I won't give any plot-spoilers but suffice to say most of your expectations are likely to be wrong-footed.

Special mention must go to the supporting cast, particularly Michael Cera and Allison Janney who turn in superb performances. Cera plays Paulie Bleeker, Juno's ever-understanding teenage friend and father of her child. His support never wavers, and serves to highlight the fact that age is no guarantee of maturity (Mark, the 30-something adoptive Dad-to-be is a child by comparison). And as Juno's stepmother Bren, Janney manages to subvert the step-stereotype and show us that this family, however dysfunctional society may label it from the outside, actually has more love at it's core than any of those deemed 'functional'.

In our recent EntsNews survey, asking which film deserved to win best film at the Oscars, Juno came top by a country mile, winning 42% of the vote. Although personally I still think There Will Be Blood was the more deserving winner, it's certainly easy to see why this film has cast such a spell over those who have experienced it.