Juno (2007)

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writer:

Diablo Cody

Stars:

Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner

Won 1 Oscar. Another 88 wins & 94 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ellen Page	...	Juno MacGuff
Michael Cera	...	Paulie Bleeker
Jennifer Garner	...	Vanessa Loring
Jason Bateman	...	Mark Loring
Allison Janney	...	Bren MacGuff
J.K. Simmons	...	Mac MacGuff
Olivia Thirlby	...	Leah
Eileen Pedde	...	Gerta Rauss
Rainn Wilson	...	Rollo
Daniel Clark	...	Steve Rendazo
Darla Fay	...	Bleeker's Mom (as Darla Vandenbossche)
Aman Johal	...	Vijay
Valerie Tian	...	Su-Chin
Emily Perkins	...	Punk Receptionist
Kaaren de Zilva	...	Ultrasound Technician (as Kaaren De Zilva)

Storyline

A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place the child with an adoptive couple. She finds one in the PennySaver personals, contacts them, tells her dad and step-mother, and carries on with school. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds. Will Juno's plan work, can she improvise, and what about Bleeker?

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Plot Keywords:

pregnancy | adoption | baby | friend | school | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about growing up... and the bumps along the way.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [France] Fox Searchlight [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Junebug

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$413,869 (USA) (7 December 2007)

Gross:

$143,492,840 (USA) (13 June 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Mandate Pictures, Mr. Mudd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was challenging to show all four seasons within a 30-day filming schedule. Solutions included digitally darkening spring cherry blossoms to look like summer flowers and having crew members off camera throw falling silk leaves for autumn. There was a fluke snowstorm (unusual for March in Vancouver) and three different shots were coordinated that day before the snow could melt. Since fake snow can be expensive to put in a shot, this saved the film considerable money for the winter scenes.

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Goofs

Juno explains that her name comes from the wife of the Greek god Zeus. In fact, the Greek team were Zeus & Hera, the Roman team were Jupiter & Juno.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Juno MacGuff: It started with a chair.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #7.70 (2008)

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Soundtracks

So Nice So Smart
(2004)
Written and Performed by Kimya Dawson

User Reviews

FilmCreature Reviews 'Juno'

Juno MacGuff is a sarcastic, cynical, tomboyish teen played by Ellen Page in a fantastic, perfectly tuned performance. After sort-of-spontaneous (but not really) sex with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera of 'Superbad'), Juno receives an unwanted package--a pregnancy. Woops.

Juno decides to give her baby to an affluent couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). All seems well at first, but it will be a bumpy road until birth.

I can spend hours gushing about how terrific a movie 'Juno' is, but I'm not really the greatest writer on the planet, so I'll just express the fact that 'Juno' has a strange effect on you. After seeing it, I almost felt as if I would walk out of the theater and see Juno MacGuff just standing there, as if she were a regular living, breathing teenager. That's how good Page is. In fact, every single performance in the film is absolutely tremendous. I liked how Allison Janney's stepmom character isn't turned into a whiny she-demon like most formula stepmoms, instead, she's far more friendlier (if a little unsure of Juno's odd ways) than we would ever expect. And J.K. Simmons finally gets a role where he isn't a total jerk; instead, he's a sensitive father who truly cares for his wacky daughter.

The soundtrack is awesome, I'll be buying it as soon as possible. The wait for the DVD will be truly agonizing, but worth it in the end. We can see the chain reactions here when a group of truly ambitious individuals (such as Jason Reitman, Diablo Cody, and Ellen Page) get together and make a movie such as this. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

I give 'Juno' my highest recommendation possible.

Sweeeeet, man. 4/4