Juno - A Sea of Love

*this review contains some spoilers, please watch the film in advance of reading this*

Juno feels the eyes on her at school

Rarely in recent film memory has a movie proved so much fun and combined that sense of joy with characters that you grow to love and care for like a lifelong friend. Juno, directed by Jason Reitman, is a wonderful film because of the evolution of the characters and of the narrative. As Roger Ebert commented on his review of the film "it begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love."

Juno tells the story of a 16 year old highschool girl named Juno MacGuff (Ellon Page) who upon choosing her close friend Paulie (Michael Cero) as her first sexual partner, falls pregnant. After informing her best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) of her unwanted medical condition, Juno decides that abortion is the best choice of action. "I'm going to go to Women Now, just cause they help out women now." informs Juno. It's a throw away line but one that sums up the film and the screenplay written by then unknown writer Diablo Cody. The film is full of brilliantly witty one liners and razor sharp observations. Some critics argued that teenagers don't actually speak like this. I can 100% confirm they do. When we're young we don't have the kind of filter on our language that we do when we grow up. We want people to know we are insightful and funny. Juno is both of those things.

On her way into Woman Now, Juno has an encounter with an anti abortion protester and fellow highschool student. She informs Juno that even in the womb, babies have fingernails. This new piece of information seems to throw Juno. There is a real life person inside her. Minutes later she is running out of the abortion surgery and into the Pennysaver ads. Adoption is her decision and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) & Mark (Jason Bateman) are the parents to be. Vanessa, the warm hearted, natural born mother, Mark the cool guy, failed musicians who still has dreams of making it big. They seem the perfect couple. Later we find out that's not the case.

Before Juno meets up with the adoptive parents though, she has to tell her parents. In many films about teenagers and pregnancy, the parents are two dimensional. Not here. Rather than having a father who shouts at her or tries to kill the boy who knocked her up, her dad (J.K. Simmons) responds with " I didn't think he had it in him.". Later when the parents are talking alone, her step mum (Allison Janney) knows this wasn't a case of a pushy boyfriend trying to force sex on Juno "You know, of course, it wasn't his idea."

Juno grows ever larger as the film goes on. Her relationship with Paulie becomes more difficult. He likes her, she is confused and scared about her feelings for him. There is a connection there that Juno is scared to admit to. She might be having his baby, but she isn't ready yet to give into her feelings for him.

Meanwhile the parents to be are having problems of their own. While Vanessa worries about what shade of yellow to paint the babies room, Mark worries that he is not ready to be a dad. Is he really about to give up his dream of being a musician? For him, that part of his life isn't over and in a beautifully observed scene where he and Juno are dancing (and perhaps becoming a little bit too close without ever actually doing or saying anything inappropriate) he admits to her that he is going to leave Vanessa.

The film plays out beautifully and by the end you have grown to love the characters you see before you. Jennifer Garner in particular gives a heartbreaking performance of a mother to be waiting for a child of her own. She conveys such sadness when she puts her head to Juno's stomach to hear the baby kick only to be rewarded with no sound. You believe that this is a woman desperate for that connection that only comes with being a parent.

All throughout the film, music plays a large part of telling the story and connecting characters. There are two very different musical scenes involving Juno and Paulie that play out at the end of the film. The first one uses Cat Power's cover of Sea of Love (originally by Phil Phillips) as Juno lays in bed crying after the birth, being cuddled by Paulie. The music fits the scene beautifully and established the film as a true classic. It can be very hard for comedies to get the line between funny and serious right. The fact the film transforms these characters before your eyes without you ever noticing should not be underestimated. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to feel something watching Paulie comfort the girl he loves as she cries in his arms.

The second of these musical scenes is the final one of the film. It involves Juno and Paulie sitting on the steps of his house. They are together and they are happy. Juno is a film that is sweet, funny, beautiful, sad and joyful in equal measures. In 2007 Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman created not only of the most original female characters in recent film history but also a rare film that will appeal to a universal audience. This is no more just a film for teenagers than The Artist is a film for old people or Toy Story is for small kids. Juno will continue to live on because it's unique.

I remember the first time I saw it. I was surprised by just how touching it was and how well drawn the characters were. I wasn't expecting that. The film is a lot fun but it's so much more than just a comedy. I have no doubt that people will keep coming back to this film year after year, I'm also positive that it will continue to draw in new generations of fans in the decades to come. It's very easy to drown in the sea of love that is Juno.