TEENAGE PREGNANCY MADE AMUSING – MEET JUNO!

I kinda like the idea of honoring Oscar ® winners past and present seeing as the awards season is upon us. So I’m going to keep it up for a bit… Now, do you remember Juno? Won the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay, was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress the same year. I bet that got your attention, even if you didn’t remember it before!
Well, I’m kind of sure my title got your attention too. And of course, teenage pregnancy is nothing to be scoffed at or laughed about. But this is not any old film. And Juno ain’t any old girl…
Ok, so meet Juno (our Oscar® nominee Ellen Page). She is an eminently original and down to earth 15 year old, and she is in a bit of a predicament. Because after having “tried some sex” with her best friend Bleaker (Michael Cera – possibly one of my favorite actors of his generation) she is pregnant. Abortion seems the only sensible course of action and Juno actually almost has her foot through the clinic door when she is reliably informed that her baby has fingernails. That does it as far as Juno is concerned, and the baby has to be born. It will just have to be put up for adoption. So Juno and her best friend start looking for a suitable couple (in Pennysaver) and find a perfect looking ad, right next to the advertisement for parakeets. And they indeed seem to be the ideal couple. She (Jennifer Garner) has a good job in the city; he (Jason Bateman) is actually a composer and kinda cool. So all seems to be going well. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “the perfect couple” and life tends to throw curveballs in these situations, as Juno and her baby are about to find out…
There is so much I simply LOVE about this film. Ellen Page and Michael Cera make a brilliant couple. The characters are out of the ordinary in more ways than one – both from real life and nothing you’ve ever seen at the same time. And the story-line is also fresh, I mean seriously, how many amusing takes on teenage pregnancy have you watched before? There are many twists to the tale and I promise you, you will not be expecting them. Last of all, ok, the main characters are 15. But that DOES NOT mean this is a children’s film. Oh no. Not by a long shot.