Four stars
As film genres go, one of the weakest and most misunderstood by filmmakers is that of the "teenager coming of age" movie.
Films ranging from "Porky's" to "American Pie" revel in tales of callous teenage louts living carnal urban legends in their witless pursuits to realize their first sexual liaison.
Such films do the genre a disservice almost as much as they unrealistically stereotype teenage males as drooling, sex-starved caricatures and teenage females as bodacious, vacuous sex kittens.
That's why, when a film such as "Juno" comes along, it gives hope that people other than John Hughes ("The Breakfast Club") have some true understanding of what makes real teens tick.
"Juno" is a smart, witty and thoroughly engaging little film that introduces the audience to one Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), a wry, erudite 16-year-old who loves Iggy Pop and the splatter films of Dario Argento while seeing school as something of a necessary evil.
Because Juno and her "sort of" boyfriend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), opted to try sex rather than watch "The Blair Witch Project" one Friday evening, Juno, as a consequence, finds she is pregnant.
Abortion is not an option, and neither is trying to hide Juno's circumstances from her parents (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney). While they are surprised, Juno's parents are somewhat relieved that her news wasn't about being expelled from school or going to jail for dealing illicit drugs. Juno assures them, however, that she does have a plan.
In looking through a recent edition of the local Pennysaver, Juno discovered a couple (Jennifer Garner and Justin Bateman) interested in adopting an unborn baby.
Upon meeting Mark and Vanessa, Juno is satisfied that they are the couple who could best provide a wonderful life for her yet unborn child.
As is the case with most teens, Juno lives in the immediate moment, seeing the world in absolutes of black and white. Juno perceives this as a "win-win" situation for Mark and Vanessa as well as for herself.
But life is not so matter-of-fact. It is much more complicated ... and messy.
And it is with this in mind that writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman take Juno on a nine-month odyssey during which the young girl learns some lessons about life and herself. They do so without heavy-handed preaching or shrill histrionics, merely letting their characters interact and allowing the natural progression of circumstances to occur.
Cody provides her characters with wonderful lines that crackle with wit and intelligence while never sounding like anything less than what a given character would say.
While the actors do a sensational job of bringing life to Cody's words and characters, none do so with greater panache than Page as Juno.
Page is completely engaging as Juno, making her character an "every girl," so to speak. Page's Juno is that high school girl who's neither the prom queen nor the goth princess. She's somewhere in between, thinking, saying and suffering through the ideas, anxieties and foibles all 16-year-olds encounter either personally or through friends.
While there may be a moment or two when Cody and Page come close to portraying Juno as being a little wise beyond her years, such moments are tempered by Juno's desire to be "adult" in her approach to her predicament.
Juno is a child who so much wants to be an adult but isn't really sure how to go about it.
Consequently, "Juno" plays out as a teen comedy that is uniquely sweet, original and, ultimately, touching. It raises the bar in a genre that desperately needs to rise above the muck of its own limited aspirations.