Every once in a while a film comes along that can leave you a bit stunned. Primarily because it’ll trick you into believing that you have a fairly good idea of what it is about. This Oscar season, the dark horse was Juno.Written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman, this film was last year’s charmer. And the charm is a collective effort of the story-tellers and the actors who leave little to be desired. To say that Juno is a pregnancy comedy is doing it a great deal of injustice because it leaves a category as simple as that many miles behind. It is the story of an accidental pregnancy and an inexperienced teenager, Juno (Ellen Page) who decides to have the child and give some parents-in-the-wings “a gift of life or whatever”. The film walks a tight rope between the expected and the unexpected, taking care to be fresh and subtly comment without shocking anyone out of their comfort zone. And the greatest achievement of the film is its approach towards relationships. For once, we are taken on a trip where we see not just the hopelessly crumbling families of suburban America but a family that still has it together without being righteous or sugar-sweet about it. What is evident however is that it takes work. A stepmother who is evidently at her stepdaughter’s side at every step of this less-than-normal situation is a hallmark of this unusual film. Consider, for instance, the parents' response to Juno's announcement of the pregnancy. No hysterics, no broken relationships, no boyfriend dragging yet so real. They are concerned about her health, about her being able to handle this situation she isn’t ready for in any way imaginable. Instead of a trailer park teenage pregnancy of a drug-addict single mother we're in a family surrounding.
Another twist from the usual pregnancy comedy (or tragedy for that matter) is the father of the child, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Before we actually see the boy, we are made to think of him as the jock who knocked up the girl and will then not accept responsibility. There is complete preparation for this image by the film-maker - we see Bleeker's running outfit, his health-conscious food routine, his wrist-bands etc, but then we see him— a shockingly innocent, not to mention, unlikely candidate for such a situation. One who is unsure about how to respond to the girl’s announcement and is further confused at her statement, “it wasn’t your idea anyway” and is left mumbling, “uh…then whose idea was it?”
The best however is revealed to us much later. The seemingly perfect couple Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bates and Jennifer Garner) who are in reality less than perfect. A born mother and a repressed rock-star turned adman. Initially ware led in a direction where we might disapprove of Vanessa’s apparent control over Mark, but once again, we are asked to be a bit less judgmental and see the picture from either side. The scene in the shopping complex is what captures the finesse of the film in the second half. Jennifer Garner outdoes herself in this scene.
The film ends in the only possible way one would (by then) expect the expert drivers to steer it in. Happy and a bit more mature.
One of the most well-deserved Academy Awards went to Diablo Cody who came up with a screenplay and dialogues one wouldn’t expect in one film, examples of favourite lines range from, Brenda asking, “Juno, did you barf in my urn?” to Juno telling her friend Leah “Dude, I’m telling you I am pregnant and you are acting shockingly cavalier.” And as she said in her acceptance speech, Ellen Page really is ‘superhuman’. She makes this film so lovable that most have gone back to it more than once.
