A 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Together with Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman, Filming spanned from early February to March 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The film premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, which received a standing ovation.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Page. The film’s soundtrack, featuring several songs performed by Kimya Dawson in various guises, was the first number one soundtrack since Dreamgirls and 20th Century Fox’s first number one soundtrack since Titanic. Juno earned back its initial budget of $6.5 million in twenty days; during the first nineteen of which the film was in limited release. The film has gone on to earn more than 35 times that amount, becoming the highest grossing movie in distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures’s history.
Juno received numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life and pro-choice communities regarding its confrontation of abortion.
What is it about?
Sixteen-year-old Minnesotan high-schooler Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers she is pregnant with a child fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). While at first she intends to have an abortion, she later changes her mind and decides to make a plan for the child’s adoption. With the help of her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver and finds a couple she feels will provide a suitable home. Along with her father, Mac (J. K. Simmons), Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), in their expensive home and expresses a desire for a closed adoption.
Vanessa is extremely anxious around Juno and their initial interactions are uneasy. However, Juno and Leah happen to see Vanessa in a shopping mall being completely at ease with a child, and Juno encourages Vanessa to talk to Juno’s baby in the womb, where it obligingly kicks for her. On the other hand, Juno more easily forms a friendship with Mark, with whom she shares tastes in punk rock and horror films. Mark, who has set aside his rock band youth (now confined to memorabilia displayed in the one room of the house allowed him by Vanessa), works at home composing commercial jingles. Juno hangs out with Mark a few times, ignoring a warning from her stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) that she should not spend time alone with a married man.
As the pregnancy progresses, Juno struggles with the emotions she feels for her baby’s father, Paulie, who is clearly—although passively—in love with Juno. Juno maintains an outwardly indifferent attitude toward Paulie, but when she learns he has asked another girl to the prom, she is hurt and angrily confronts him. Paulie reminds Juno that it is at her request they remain distant and tells her that she broke his heart. He also suggests that she has feelings for him she is unable to admit.
Not long before her baby is due, Juno is again visiting with Mark when their interaction becomes strongly emotional. Mark then tells her that he will be leaving Vanessa. Vanessa arrives home, and, to her shock, Mark tells her he does not feel ready to be a father and that there are still things he wants to do first—dreams Vanessa does not share. Juno watches the Loring marriage fall apart, then drives away and cries by the side of the road before coming to a decision. Returning to the Lorings’ home, she leaves a note.
After a heartfelt discussion with Mac, Juno accepts that she loves Paulie. Juno then tells Paulie that she loves him, and Paulie’s actions make it clear that her feelings are reciprocated. At his track meet, when Paulie notices Juno is not in the stands and realizes she must be in labor, he rushes to the hospital to be with her (she had not told him because she did not want him to miss the meet). He arrives to find Juno has given birth to their son, and comforts Juno as she cries. Vanessa comes to the hospital where she joyfully claims the newborn boy as a single adoptive mother. On the wall in the baby’s new nursery, Vanessa has framed Juno’s note—addressed only to her—which reads “Vanessa: If you’re still in, I’m still in. —Juno.” The film ends in the summertime with Juno and Paulie playing guitar and singing together, followed by a kiss.
nice legs . . . .
i m pregnant . . . .
I m pregnant. . . .
masturd or cream yellow- both are the same. . . .
there’s the baby! you can see the head, the small fingers . .. bla bla bla
he is going with who to the prom!
i love you
hu hu
Along with a good theme.
Along with Knocked Up and Waitress, two other 2007 films about women facing unplanned pregnancies, Juno was interpreted by some critics as having a pro-life theme. Ann Hulbert of Slate magazine believed that Juno ” both pro-life and pro-choice purism,”while Jeff Dawson of The Sunday Times believed that the film was inevitably placed in the “unwanted pregnancy sub-genre” with Knocked Up and Waitress due to its subject matter, but thought that its interpretation as a pro-life film only “muddied the waters.” Hadley Freeman of The Guardian criticized Juno for “completing a hat-trick of American comedies in the past 12 months that present abortion as unreasonable, or even unthinkable—a telling social sign,” though she noted, “I don’t believe any of these films is consciously designed to be anti-abortion propaganda.”A. O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, agreed that Juno has “an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood.” Ellen Page commented, “What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd… The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that.” Both Cody and Page have openly stated that they are pro-choice;Reitman thought that it was “fantastic” that both pro-life and pro-choice groups were embracing the film. He said that “Juno seems to be a mirror, and people [on both sides see themselves in it."
Other critics labeled Juno as feminist because of its atypical portrayal of Juno as a confident and intelligent teenage girl. Antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly wrote that Juno's theme "isn't love, romance, or respect for life, but the triumph of feminist ideology, i.e., the irrelevancy of men, especially fathers." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe noted that "Juno serves cool, intelligent girls something they rarely see in a movie: themselves." Cody said about writing the film, "Women are clever, women are funny, women are sharp, and I wanted to show that these girls were human and not the stereotypical teenage girls that we often see in the media" and "There was a lack of authentic teen girl characters ... I saw writing this screenplay as an opportunity to create an iconic female." Page praised the film for its positive depiction of teenage girls, describing Juno's character as "really refreshing and allow[ing] for new possibilities in what young women can be” and “honest but original, completely devoid of stereotype,”while also highlighting that “Girls haven’t had that sort of character before. We don’t have our Catcher in the Rye.” She criticized the media perception of her character as a “strong woman,” arguing that if Juno were a male character, the “strength” of the character would not be considered remarkable. Reitman was interested in the personal/political conflict for Vanessa’s character: “Feminism has paved the way for Vanessa’s career, but ultimately Vanessa wants to be a full time mother.”
Recognitions
Juno received four 2008 Academy Awards nominations: Best Original Screenplay, which Diablo Cody won, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Ellen Page.
Reitman expressed disappointment that Juno was ruled ineligible for the Canadian Genie Award nominations: “It’s a Canadian director, Canadian stars, Canadian cast, Canadian crew, shot in Canada—how are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg’s film about Russians living in London shot in England with a British crew and British cast is eligible? I’m sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me; I don’t get it.” Sara Morton, the head of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, issued a statement explaining that the film had never been submitted for Genie Award consideration by its studio. The Hollywood Reporter explained that Genie rules define Canadian films as financed at least in part by Canadian sources, and because American companies Mandate Pictures and Fox Searchlight were the sole founders, Juno was ineligible. Nonetheless, Genie spokesman Chris McDowall said that while the film wasn’t evaluated for eligibility since it wasn’t submitted, “Financing is one of the main criteria, but it’s not everything.” Despite this, the film was eligible for the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards, receiving two wins from three nominations.
Soundtrack – the amazing songs in this movie
Juno’s soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture Juno, features nineteen songs from Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian, Buddy Holly, Cat Power, The Kinks, Mott the Hoople, Sonic Youth and The Velvet Underground, and most prominently Kimya Dawson and her former bands The Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants. Under the Rhino Entertainment record label, it became the first number one soundtrack since the Dreamgirls soundtrack, 20th Century Fox’s first number one soundtrack since the Titanic soundtrack, and Rhino’s first number one album, topping the American Billboard 200 music charts in its fourth week of release.
Rhino announced in March 2008 that Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs would be available through digital-only release, a second volume of songs that were considered for but not included in the film. The fifteen tracks include songs by previously featured artists Kimya Dawson, Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian and Buddy Holly, as well as Astrud Gilberto, The Bristols, Jr. James & The Late Guitar, Trio Los Panchos, Yo La Tengo and Ellen Page singing “Zub Zub”, written by Diablo Cody as part of the script in a deleted scene. It was released to other digital music retailers on May 13, 2008.
On November 25, 2008, a Deluxe Edition of the soundtrack was released, containing both the original soundtrack as well as B-Sides in a two-disc set, along with storyboards from the film and additional liner notes from Reitman.
A really good movie. . . .
Juno probably the most original movie in a while . . . . .
