Review: Juno (Grade A+)

Every once in awhile a film comes along that has all the right ingredients to make a motion picture an instant classic. The ingredients to make a classically perfect film are volatile at best and rarely do modern filmmakers get it just right. "Juno" is such a film.

Director Jason Reitman, son of classic comedy filmmaker Ivan Reitman of "Ghostbusters" fame picked up right where he left off after his breakthrough film "Thank You For Smoking" in 2005. With "Juno", Reitman hits all the right notes as he deftly coaxes brilliant performances out of the stellar cast, including Ellen Page with a superstar making turn as the title character.

The film is a comedy about 16-year old Juno MacGuff (played brilliantly by the stellar Ellen Page) who has unprotected sex with her naive and meek boyfriend Paulie Bleeker (a wonderful Michael Cera) and before you know it, she gets pregnant. Not wanting to tell her dad (a very funny J.K. Simmons) and her stepmom (a brilliant Allison Janney) she decides to get an abortion. Along the way she runs into a classmate who makes her feel guilty and decides against it. With the help of her best friend (a very funny and natural Olivia Thirlby) Juno sets out on a quest to find the perfect adoptive parents. In the Penny Saver (you can find anything in there) she finds the perfect people that could adopt her baby. By all appearances, Mark and Vanessa (played by the glowing Jennifer Garner and the less manic than usual Jason Bateman) are the perfect married couple who can't have kids but underneath they are as screwed up as Juno herself. As a surrogate mom, Juno gets closer to them and we find out that Mark is unhappy and is thinking of leaving Vanessa.

But the real story is how Juno manages herself during her pregnancy while still going to school and getting the "stink eye" from classmates and Paulie's mom, who doesn't know that her son is the father. Juno's relationship with her dad is very endearing but she still handles him and everyone else with a biting and sarcastic wit, which is as we all know, just a cover for her awkwardness as a teenager.

This film wouldn't work if not for the brilliantly conceived script that is laced with sarcasm and rapid-fire witticisms that spew so naturally out of Page's mouth that I thought at least some of them could be adlibbed. Writer turned stripper turned phone sex operator turned blogger turned screenwriter Diablo Cody, has written a piece of cinematic gold. The film is laced with sardonic wit and is on one hand touching and the other, hilariously funny. The intelligence of this script is staggering. The meteoric rise of Diablo Cody really started with this film as she is now the flavor of the month in Hollywood with a Showtime show in development and a best selling book. Like it or not world, Diablo Cody is the future of Hollywood screenwriters.

Now let's talk about the star of the film, Ellen Page. When she burst on the scene with her harrowingly mature and blazing performance in 2005's "Hard Candy" (see my review here) I knew then and there that this girl would be a superstar and with her performance in this film, I was right. With another actress in this role the film would have still been good but with Ellen this film rises to epic proportions. So effortless and brilliant is her performance here, that I really believe she is Juno MacGuff. Not once does the sometimes difficult dialogue seem unnatural flowing from her lips and her reactions and facial expressions are priceless. Ellen Page is an actress that absolutely buries herself in a role and appears so natural that it boggles the mind. I mean she is THAT good. Scary good and very, very funny. All actresses, young and old, need to take a cue from her as she is hands down the best actress of her generation, I mean no one comes close. Also, have I mentioned that I absolutely love her voice??

The supporting characters are all wonderful and in the end I wish I could have spent more time with all of them. Jennifer Garner, who herself has shown a deft touch with comedy, has the best role of her career as an overeager and overprotective career woman who can't have children. We have all seen roles where a woman has "baby fever" but Garner subtly gives us much, much more. She goes from neurotic to sweet in the same scene (often in the same sentence) and you get the feeling she would make an ideal loving mother. Jason Bateman usually plays the wise ass but here he dials down his performance portraying a sweet man-child who just goes along for the ride. J.K. Simmons also has a chance to dial down his usual loudmouth roles to play a sweet and supportive father to a girl that is mature way beyond her years. Allison Janney also gives a great performance as the stepmom who is wise and brash all at the same time. Now we know where Juno gets some of her biting wit. Michael Cera plays Paulie with just the right amount of immaturity and naivete that one would expect, as he is totally bowled over by Juno's directness and the sheer force of her personality. Olivia Thirlby plays Juno's best friend to a tee. All the kids act like typical teenagers which makes Juno's maturity stand out even more. Rainn Wilson also has an unforgettable cameo as a clerk that you can't miss.

Reitman shows the passage of time of Juno's pregnancy with a running gag of the boys track team, in what I think is an homage to his dad, Ivan, which works symbolically. The character of Juno herself is shown, despite her obvious mistake, to be a level-headed and eccentric person. She shows up at Paulie's house sitting in a lounge chair with a pipe in her mouth. She likes punk bands from the late 70's and Dario Argento movies. She's a unique specimen in a sugar-coated world. She's special and she knows it, herein lies the perfection.

So, this is what it takes to make a perfect film: a great script, perfect casting, brilliant performances and a deft touch from a director. Lastly, it has to look good. And once again "Juno" succeeds. The comedic timing hits all the perfect notes and the pacing is pitch perfect. Great comedy comes from the situation the characters find themselves in as well as their surroundings. And this film is filled to the brim with great comedic sequences and I for one would LOVE to see a sequel. Hint, hint.

This is a must see film that will have you in stitches and is a textbook example of how great filmmaking unfolds. I guarantee that you will fall in love with the very funny, sarcastic and brilliant Ellen Page and that you will love this movie for what it is, a ingenious and topical comedy that is extremely satisfying.

Musings Grade: A+

-- Janaki Cedanna

All images © 2007 Fox Searchlight Pictures

p.s. I had an opportunity to shoot an interview with Ellen Page on the promo tour for "Juno" but unfortunately she cancelled at the last moment due to her extensive traveling promoting the film. Bummer, I would have LOVED to meet her and talk about about the film and her career. Maybe next time! But here's the trailer you can check out.