76. Juno (2007)

Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner

Director: Jason Reitman

Running Time: 96 mins

Juno is an American/Canadian film about a young woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, and she sets about finding a family to give away her baby to once it is born.

Although I don’t really think that it’s up to the Oscar-winning standard that it has managed, I did really enjoy this film. A real, interesting and simple story filled with fantastic performances and some good comedy as well, even though I felt it lacked a distinct charm that would have really made it beautiful to watch.

About that, it’s something that has been accredited to this film, some feel of charm, but that was the one thing that didn’t shine through for me. Of course, the characters are likeable, and it doesn’t put a doom-and-gloom perspective on teenage pregnancy, however it just wasn’t as sweet as it was aiming to pull off, and that was the only major disappointment for me.

However, the rest of the film is pretty solid. It deals with a very difficult topic, especially to make a comedy out of, in the form of teenage pregnancy, but it manages to stop itself from either criticising or glorifying the whole idea of teenage pregnancy, while maintaining a very realistic approach to the topic, bringing you through all of the stages of Juno’s unplanned pregnancy sensitively as well as realistically.

Ellen Page’s performance as Juno MacGuff was very good as well. Seeming like a pretty strong young woman, but with an evident sensitive side, you get to like her almost immediately, and as she goes through her pregnancy, you form an unlikely, but close emotional attachment with her that makes her ordeal all the more interesting and emotionally impacting to watch.

In terms of the comedy, it was quite strong as well. There weren’t any laugh-out-loud moments, and no consistent level of comedy, but amidst the dramatic tone of the story, that was completely deliberate, but it is still a funny film, despite being somewhat dramatic, and even though it may not be as charming as you would hope, it’s a very solid film in the end, so that’s why it gets a 7.2.