this was easily one of my top 5 favorite movies of 2007. it’s the story of a pregnant teenage girl faced with the choice of what to do with the fruit of her exploits. while it never seems that keeping the child is an option, she does consider both of the other options, adoption and abortion, and decides on the former. she then looks for a worthy family that can adopt the baby and finds, through a personal ad, no less, a seemingly perfect couple with a seemingly perfect life. the movie then goes through the events that transpire leading up to the birth of Juno’s baby.

now, there are several reasons that i loved this film. first, it’s just funny. i mean really hilarious. the conversations, especially between Juno (played by Ellen Page) and her best friend Leah (played by Olivia Thirlby), are brilliantly written and never seem forced or contrived. when the two girls are together they pretty much only talk in slang, which can be hard to keep up with but is terribly funny if you can. the word choice is amazing and it’s interesting that they can use certain words to convey meaning that could have nothing to do with the actual meaning of the word they use. that’s probably confusing, and i can’t remember any specific examples, so you’ll just have to see the film to see what i mean. but it’s brilliant. i also found it very refreshing that the majority of the humor in this movie is in the dialogue. frankly, i’m a little burnt out on comedies that are nothing but situational or gag humor. i want something witty, something intelligent. and Juno definitely fits that bill.

a second reason i loved this film is the relationships of the characters. i think one thing that hollywood often fails to convey is the reality of relationships. there are a number of reasons for this, of course, and some of them are justified, but one thing this film does really will is to portray the messiness and complexity of relationships. every relationship in this film is flawed, even the one between Juno and Leah. yet all the characters seem to be conscious of this and do what they can to work through their various issues. they don’t do so perfectly, of course, but through the trouble and pain comes love and redemption. and i think this film does a very good job at showing that.

a third reason i loved this film is what it says about life. now let me be perfectly clear in saying that i don’t think this film was in any way intended to be an “anti-abortion” film, nor do i think it was intended to make any kind of political statement whatsoever. it may, but if so then i am completely unaware of it. nevertheless, i think this film is a wonderful testament to the miracle of life and pregnancy. as i mentioned earlier, Juno does contemplate having an abortion. like one of Job’s friends, perhaps, Leah makes the calls for her and sets up the appointments, trying as hard as she can to help Juno with the situation in the way that she thinks best. but when Juno gets to the abortion clinic she meets a classmate, a stereotypical anti-abortion Christian, protesting the abortion clinic with a picket sign and chanting “all babies want to get borned.” the “Christian” is made to look like a fool, but what she tells Juno, that her baby has fingernails, completely changes Juno’s attitude towards what she is about to do. it’s through watching the nervous, unsettled fingernails of the other “clients” in the clinic that cause her to run out and choose adoption, and she never wastes an opportunity to tell everyone around her that her baby has fingernails. in her own quirky way, Juno comes to realize the wonder that is growing inside of her. and even though she refers to the baby as “this thing” or to her pregnancy as “a fat suit i can’t take off,” even though not having an abortion will bring scorn upon her from classmates and parents, she refuses to do the easy thing and to respect the life that is growing inside of her. it’s beautiful.

there are other things i loved about this film. the soundtrack is really great, the casting is perfect, Dwight has a cameo (i really wish he had more scenes), etc., etc. it’s just a completely brilliant film. this film has definitely aided in changing my attitude towards indie films. i’ve seen several of them lately (Once and Waitress being the best of the lot), which is unusual for me. i think i’ve been kind of leery of indie films because of the people that are really into them. i saw it as just another thing to be a snob about, and saw some that weren’t particularly great that just solidified my view. but that view has completely changed now. i’m not going to be one that ONLY watches indie films from now on, i love popcorn blockbusters too much to do that, but i definitely won’t be as suspicious toward them as i was little more than a month ago. like with Juno, in the best ones there’s a profound realism, and that’s something i’ve been looking for in film for a long time.