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 89 wins & 96 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 | teenage mother | pregnant teenager | teenage pregnancy | adoption | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [United States] Official Facebook

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 USA:

$413,869, 9 December 2007

Gross USA:

$143,495,265

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$231,411,584

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

As of 2018, features Ellen Page's only Oscar nominated performance.

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Goofs

When Juno goes to visit Mark and Vanessa to give them the ultrasound photo, Mark tells Juno that Vanessa is working late to accumulate time-off for when the baby comes. As there is snow on the ground, it is clearly winter. However, when Vanessa comes home, it is still light outside. Minnesota in the winter is dark around 4pm. The movie is, in fact, filmed entirely in Canada as shown in Filming Locations. Furthermore, in Trivia it's explained they made changes to the scenery, fake snowstorm, in order to have the seasons mirror the pregnancy's trimesters.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References Thunderbirds (1965)

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Soundtracks

Doll Parts
(1991)
Written by Courtney Love
Performed by Ellen Page (uncredited) and Jason Bateman (uncredited)

User Reviews

Thundercats are go?

This could have been a very, very good film. I enjoyed the basic plot - a quirky, tomboy-ish 16 year old discovers she's pregnant, decides to give the baby up for adoption to the "perfect couple" but finds that the perfect couple isn't so perfect - and maybe no relationship ever is.

There were also some great moments, and great lines. I like when Juno tells the baby's quirky father, Bleeker (played by Michael Cera) that he is the coolest person she knows, without even trying. And he responds that, actually, he is trying really hard (to be cool).

I guess that gets me to the problem with the movie- it's trying waaaaay too hard to be cool (by being quirky - yes I have used this word 3 times already, intentionally). In the beginning, a store clerk sees that Juno's pregnancy test is positive, and he says: "that's one diddle that can't be undone, home-skillet". I cringed. As others have mentioned, Juno has an "ironic" hamburger phone, wears "ironic" t-shirts featuring 70's era toys (Slinky), wears Converse sneakers, and can't seem to have a conversation without making pop-culture references no matter what is going on - even when her water breaks and she is headed to the hospital, she has the detached sense of irony to make a reference to a mid-80's cartoon, yelling: "Thundercats are go!" I cringed again. I get it - Juno is a hip, snarky, ironic, tough, cool-because-she-trying-not-to-be-cool chick. But she becomes a cartoon, a warped caricature of an actual quirky kid. I could not accept Juno as "real" and was painfully aware that I was watching a movie.

And that is my ONLY problem with the film. The other characters and their stories are amazing - particularly the adoptive couple, and the difficulties they are facing. The best parts of the movie are those few moments when Juno gets her uber-ironic self off the screen, and we get to enjoy the other, more realistic, characters.

Would have given this a 8.5, if not for the cartoonish-ness of the Juno character. Thundercats are not go.