CinePhillyist Reviews... Juno

“Shit, I could write that,” said a woman at the Bridge on Monday, when told that Juno was about a teenage pregnancy. Thing is, dear reader, so could you. Not because you found yourself trying to buy a ticket for three to your junior prom, mind; but neither Juno nor this summer’s Knocked Up stray too far from the basic emotional territory set out in Nine Months, Father of the Bride Part II, and the other less-than-memorable pregnancy comedies of yesteryear. Juno starts out with a spiky, wiseass attitude—the eponymous heroine (Ellen Page) begins a call to the local pregnancy clinic with, “Hey, I’m looking for a hasty abortion”—before inevitably deciding to remind the audience of the miracle of life, which I am given to understand is pretty miraculous.

What you couldn’t write—unless you are screenwriter Diablo Cody, in which case I would like to tell you that you have the coolest name I have ever heard—are scenes like the one in a convenience store, where Juno and The Office’s Rainn Wilson swap a series of increasingly unlikely (and hilarious) taunts while Juno is using a pregnancy test in the restroom. Cody has a knack for the credible-yet-hilarious moment (Juno to boyfriend: “I love how you’re cool without even trying;” boyfriend looks embarrassed, admits, “I try really hard, actually…”); and the heroine is a well-drawn, complex character, with a mixture of self-aware irony and naïveté that’s closer to the teenage experience than any other character I’ve seen in years.

Star Ellen Page has already been getting accolades, and rightly so. Her lead performance in Hard Candy showed that she had intelligence and charisma, and it’s gratifying to see her finally using those powers for good, rather than evil. The aforementioned wiseass attitude is mostly due to Page and her preternatural self-assurance, which anchors the film through a couple of hairpin tonal shifts. Michael Cera, meanwhile, is a constant delight. If he were a superhero, his power would be maintaining a constant sense of innocence no matter the material; his character in Superbad could tell a joke about Cleveland steamers that would make you want to hug him. It’s hard to imagine his tentative ingenuousness still working five years from now (even Hugh Grant had to start playing assholes after a while), so enjoy it while it lasts. Like Juno itself, it’s a pleasant surprise.

Image Credit: Fox Searchlight