Juno (2007) * *

Directed by:  Jason Reitman

Starring:  Ellen Page, Michael Cera, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Olivia Thirlby, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner

I gave Juno MacGuff two chances now; nearly 10 years between viewings.    My initial opinion of her was that she was entirely too snarky and too cool for the room to generate any sympathy when she inevitably transitioned into the "Look at me, I'm really as scared and vulnerable as everyone else" phase of her character.    Upon second viewing, my opinion of her has not changed.     This is not a good thing.     Juno, the character, is not as openly abrasive as some movie comedy protagonists, but she rarely seems human.     She is so confident while navigating through her pregnancy that we can only surmise she took an advance look at the script.

Ellen Page, Oscar-nominated for her role here, plays the 16-year-old Juno who is 16 going on 35.    Roger Ebert gushed over Page's performance, writing in his 2007 review, "She is going to be one of the great actors of her time."    Even Roger Ebert, great as he was, could get carried away from time to time.     Page is a capable actress, but her character is doomed by an Oscar-winning screenplay by Diablo Cody that is more concerned with showing how witty it is than developing Juno into a real person.     Juno never comes across as a real human being, but instead a vessel to recite Cody's dialogue. 

Juno MacGuff becomes pregnant after seducing her pal Paulie (Cera), a high school track star taken aback by Juno's initiative.    Juno at first decides to have an abortion, but then backs out to instead have the child and give it up for adoption.    She locates a married couple, Vanessa and Mark Loring (Garner and Bateman), who wish to adopt.    All seems well, except that Vanessa and Mark aren't as happy as they appear and Juno truly begins to develop feelings for Paulie, who may be the luckiest teen father in history because Juno does not want his involvement.    Life goes on for him while Juno undergoes the ups and downs of pregnancy,   ("You don't have the reminder of our experiment under your sweater,")  

She then insults Paulie's potential prom date by calling her Soupy Sales because she makes weird faces.    What teenager in 2007 America would possibly know who Soupy Sales was?    This is one of many times in which Cody's script resembles a group of obscure references as opposed to a screenplay.    I have no doubt Cody would know who Soupy Sales was, or Iggy and the Stooges for that matter, but would Juno MacGuff, a teen in 2000s Minnesota?

Juno is populated by infinitely more interesting than its eponymous protagonist.    J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney play Juno's grounded, reasonable parents.    Garner and Bateman are a seemingly perfect couple in a seemingly perfect home with plenty of tensions underneath that threaten to implode the entire adoption.      Paulie is a teen who loves Juno even if she doesn't love him at first.   
The biggest problem with Juno is, well, Juno herself.  



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