JUNO

Paulie Bleeker: I still have your underwear.
Juno MacGuff: I still have your virginity.
Paulie Bleeker: Would you shut up?

(Fox Searchlight)
Runtime: 90 min

I cannot blame you to hiss like a perturbed snake or frown upon reading the term teen pregnancy which spells trouble for most, but in this feel-good movie about youth irresponsibilty, gets smart and witty at the same time just like Knocked Up with the cleverness of Little Miss Sunshine. It also shows that coming-of-age/teen romantic comedy genre shouldn’t have to be dark and cynical.

Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, a smart mouth 16 year old teenager who “experimented” on having sex with her goofy boyfriend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). As the result Juno went pregnant. At first she was scared to death, even think to abort her baby. Not until one of her friend said that “baby has fingernails too”, Juno abort her hasty plan. After revealing the truth to her stunningly supportive father Bren (Allison Janney) and step mother Mac (J.K. Simmons), she goes to try to find a good Mommy and Daddy for her unborn child.

Juno finds the perfect couple to adopt, the rich music composer Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner), who live in an expensive house just like as if it was sprung up from any IKEA catalogue.

After the deal is sealed, Juno, who keeps Paulie at a distance, makes periodic visits to the house to show the family ultrasound photos and such. As Mark and Juno grew closer (thank to slasher gore film and music taste), Mark decided to divorce Vanessa, thus jeopardizing Vanessa’s chance of having a baby. Will there be a happy ending? What happened to Paulie then? The result is a heart warming resolution which hinted that sex education is very important for teenagers.

With vocabulary bending dialogue, we should thank Diablo Cody who wrote this story and earn herself a golden statue called Oscar this year. It is certain that Diablo is very familiar with the way teens speak English nowadays with funny catchphrase and smart dialogue. It won’t make you laugh hard but it will make you smile and sometimes sneer and it is charming without being saccharine. It's funny without being rude or dishonest. It's smart without being smart-assed and it is touching without the corny music and dialogue.