Art and creativity meet sarcasm and teenage crisis in Juno. In this unique and entertaining film, 16-year-old Juno (Ellen Page) encounters an unexpected pregnancy and uses wisdom beyond her years to make the decision to have the baby and give him or her up for adoption.
Juno begins at a convenience store with a positive pregnancy test, the third one she takes that day after drinking a huge bottle of orange juice. The clerk notes, "It’s one doodle that can’t be undid." She’s shocked to discover that she’s pregnant after her one and only sexual encounter with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), a tall, thin blonde kid introduced on screen wearing a track uniform.
Juno’s parents are divorced, her father is remarried and Bleeker’s mother (Darla Vandenbossche) really doesn’t like her. Despite the world around her being far from perfect and her family being kind of dysfunctional, Juno manages to handle her pregnancy very well. Even Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), the couple that she finds to adopt her baby, have marital issues of their own.
They are a well-to-do couple in their thirties who appear to have everything they could ever want, and they thought they were ready for the one thing they lack – an addition to the family, so they tried unsuccessfully to have a baby. Both of them appeared to want a child when Juno, her dad and the Loring’s attorney met at their house to discuss the plans.
As things turn out, Vanessa desperately wants a child, but Mark backs down and chooses his personal interests over that of a family. Juno asks them to stay together for the sake of her baby, whom she wants to be raised in a good home. Through everything she manages to stay upbeat and her sarcasm-filled humor delivers laughs throughout the film. She’s hip and independent and no baby is going to steal her lively spirit.
Though she ultimately decides on adoption, she first considers an abortion, out of fear. She goes to an abortion clinic where she sees a girl from her school holding a pro-life sign.
She informs Juno that unborn babies have fingernails. Juno stops walking for a moment and ponders the thought of her baby’s fingernails before entering the clinic. A young girl greets her with paperwork to fill out and offers her a free boysenberry-flavored condom. Juno turns it down, but the girl insists, telling Juno that it makes her boyfriend "smell like pie."
The message the film delivers is that no matter how difficult or messed up life becomes, it’s still precious and it’s something that should be lived to the fullest. Bleeker and Juno procreated, but they learned that life is less than perfect. I admire a film that "tells it how it is" and still offers a positive outlook on a tough situation.
