Let me first say Juno is not a best picture candidate, although I do believe Jason Reitman’s first movie, Thank You for Smoking should have been. Smoking is better, yet Juno shows that Reitman is one of the next great directors.

Ellen Page stars as Juno, and Michael Cera (of Arrested Development and Superbad fame) is the father of the newly knocked up Juno. Alison Janney and J.K. Simmons were perfectly cast as the parents and the odd match up of Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the adoptive couple really worked. Garner was playing a bit of an overexaggerated mother but it worked for this style of film. Page gives a great performance as the odd person out not knowing who she is as the “oops I got pregnant” lead character. She may have stardom written all over her as long as she is not typecast as Michael Cera who does his typical shy awkward teenager that for me is getting really boring.

The nice thing about this film is the story is sweet. It is heartwarming to see how this teenager tries to hide behind her fetus has fears all along and sees how the guy she had sex with really is one that she likes. It shows how teenagers just aren’t ready for pregnancy and how the public still sees a pregnant teenager as a ‘freak.’

Jason Reitman, as in Thank You for Smoking, has included this old time folk type music in the background that really works to bring out the quirkiness of the characters and the film. Any other music would have killed the mood he was going for. The transition between parts of the story using the running team effectively adds to the quirkiness.

Simply, Juno is good, and I truly recommend it. I’m not jumping around crazily as I wasn’t that enamored with it, but it was a pleasant surprise for a Friday night.

Similar recommended titles: Knocked Up, Nine Months, Thank You for Smoking