This amazing news is about 'Juno' close to genius Ellen Page shines in role as saucy student.
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Ellen Page was edgy and teetering on terrifying in "Hard Candy," but as Juno McGuff, she is a cute but slightly nerdy and awkward high school student. Page keeps the sardonic attitude and the little red riding hoodie, but trades her malicious objectives for righteous intentions. She decides to give up her baby for adoption when she accidentally gets pregnant after losing her virginity to a member of the track team out of boredom.
Juno scours the classifieds for those "desperately seeking spawn," and stumbles across a picture of the perfect couple, Vanessa and Mark Lorring (Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman), right next to the ads for exotic birds. Bateman plays a wannabe rock'n'roller turned jingle writer and Garner is a square, but sweet, middle-upper-class businesswoman born to be a mother but unable to have children of her own.
Page is hilariously sarcastic in this film and it is refreshing to see such a young woman taking on such daring and strong comedic roles. Armed with a sharp tongue and well-written dialogue courtesy of Cody, with lines like "Hi, I'm just calling to procure a hasty abortion…um, could you hold on a second? I'm talking on my hamburger phone," her dad (J.K. Simmons) assures the adoptive parents that her sense of humor is just one of her many genetic gifts.
Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker) plays essentially the same character that he does in "Superbad" or "Arrested Development," a character that I can only assume is his actual personality, and is awkward as usual. While this is not to say that he is not funny, his character lacks depth and Page is the true comedian in this film.
Allison Janney ("Drop Dead Gorgeous," "American Beauty") offers a surprisingly funny and delightful role to the film as Juno's supportive stepmother, as does J.K. Simmons ("Thank You For Smoking," "Spiderman"), and their Minnesotan accents are playful but not overdone.
Things, however, do not go exactly as planned when it is time for Juno to take the bun out of the oven. Everything turns out alright in the end though, as most movies are wont to do, and the film leaves the viewer warm, fuzzy and satisfied. The only problem with this film is the lack of depth in many of the characters, and that the film follows the cheap morality ploys of Judd Apatow. But if you're looking for a feel-good movie with clever dialogue and quirky humor, this film is definitely worth your time.
