Juno

It's not often that an independent movie comes along and becomes a really huge success.  Little Miss Sunshine is probably the last independent film to really capture audiences the way Juno appears to be.  And it really is no surprise.  It's cute and lovable and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.

The movie follows a 16 year old, intellectually precocious, smart-aleck-y, emo girl who finds out at the beginning of the film that she's pregnant.  She soon confides in her best friend and after a short lived flirtation with the idea of abortion, they cook up a scheme to find a couple to adopt the unborn child.  This leads Juno to the doorstep of a couple desperate for a child.  Through the course of the movie there are ups and downs as you can imagine but in the end, everything works out.

This movie was fantastic.  It was a revelation.  There's very little that can be criticized about this movie.  The only real gripe is that everyone seems a bit too quick witted and intelligent - not very true to life obviously.  This really however doesn't detract from the movie and provides some great one-liners along the way.

The break-out star here is Ellen Page as Juno.  She's had roles in several great movies, notably Hard Candy and the X-Men franchise, but this movie shows that she's got what it takes to carry a film.  She is absolutely perfect at conveying the right mix of teen angst, pregnant mood swings, and immaturity that the role demanded.  Absolutely nothing bad to say here.  Michael Cera, bless his heart, is great but he plays the same role as everything he's ever done (don't get me wrong...I've loved the guy since Arrested Development,  and he does play that character well).  As far as the supporting cast goes, Jennifer Garner is amazing as the desperate (and I do mean DESPERATE) wife who wants to adopt Juno's unborn child.  She totally inhabits the character and becomes probably the most sympathetic person in the film.  The rest of the supporting cast is great too, especially Allison Janney who delivers some of the best one liners in the film ("Doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch other people scream" - that's totally gonna become my tag-line!).

Jason Reitman, the director, who's other mainstream film Thank You For Smoking shares some of Juno's charm, does a really solid job of bringing the cast together and creating a story that flows seamlessly and never drags.

Overall, Juno is a win.  The whole movie is just rock solid with little or no criticisms.  The other great thing about this film is it's wide appeal.  Teens will love it, but so will their folks.   Everyone should see this movie.  More than once.