Juno
Ellen Page is simply sensational as the spunky, defiantly nonconformist 16-year-old Juno, who finds she is pregnant after sleeping with Bleeker (the goofy and endearing Michael Cera). She decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption to a deserving couple (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) she picks from an ad in a PennySaver circular. And that's the jumping-off point for Jason Reitman's marvelously offbeat comedy, which is sheer joy from beginning to end. Much credit should be given to the smart screenplay by Diablo Cody, which crackles with comic effervescence and sly wit -- some of the jokes machine-gun past you at an alarming speed. Page gives a dynamic assertion to a role that in other hands might be cloyingly cute, while J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney are just delightful as her accepting parents. As for Juno, any girl who digs Iggy Pop, Patti Smith and Dario Argento is my kind of gal.
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