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Juno (film)

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Juno
File:Junoposter2007.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJason Reitman
Written byDiablo Cody
Produced byJohn Malkovich
StarringEllen Page
Michael Cera
Jason Bateman
Jennifer Garner
CinematographyEric Steelberg
Edited byDana E. Glauberman
Music byMateo Messina
Distributed byFox Searchlight
Release dates
September 1, 2007 (Telluride)
December 5, 2007 (limited)
December 25, 2007
Running time
96 min.
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7.5 million
Box office$92,757,000 (1/26/08)

Juno is a 2007 Canadian/American comedy film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the eponymous character, a sharp-tongued teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy. Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman also star.

The film has earned overwhelmingly positive reviews, making many critics' top ten lists for 2007, as well as receiving four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. A hit with audiences, Juno made back its budget of $7.5 million in only 20 days, 19 of which the film was in limited release,[1] and it has gone on to make more than ten times that amount.

Plot

After taking three pregnancy tests in Rollo's (Rainn Wilson) store, Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers she is nine weeks pregnant by her close friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). She calls her best friend, Leah (Olivia Thirlby), and decides to schedule an abortion. Although she encounters a pro-life classmate protesting alone outside the clinic, Juno enters but becomes unnerved and overwhelmed. She returns home intent on carrying the pregnancy to term and to give the infant up for adoption.

Juno and Leah look through the Pennysaver for couples seeking to adopt children and finally come by an ad from Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). Juno breaks the news of her pregnancy to her father Mac MacGuff (J. K. Simmons) and her stepmother, Brenda "Bren" MacGuff (Allison Janney), who, after asking if she considered abortion, support her decision to put the baby up for adoption. Juno and her father visit the affluent Lorings in their suburban home where the high-strung Vanessa is unsettled by Juno's sarcasm, but Juno and Mark form a bond over their shared musical interests. Mark reveals that he was once in a punk band but now writes commercial jingles. Juno teases him because Vanessa has boxed all his hobbies – Les Paul guitars, recording gear, and comic books – to a single room in the house.

Several weeks later in the winter Juno goes to receive an ultrasound with Bren and Leah, where a comment about teen mothers by the technician prompts a harsh rebuke from Bren. After the appointment, Juno drives to the Loring residence unannounced to share the ultrasound picture with them. As Mark works from home, he welcomes her and they begin to discuss their shared interests in alternative music and horror films. Vanessa returns home and is caught off-guard by Juno's presence but forms a strong attachment with the picture, then Juno comes across a collection of baby items and Vanessa reveals that a previous adoption fell through. When Juno returns home, her stepmother admonishes her for crossing boundaries of a married man, a concern Juno rejects since they are merely friends.

When Juno is in the final weeks of her pregnancy in the spring, she visits the mall with Leah and covertly observes a relaxed Vanessa playing happily with a friend's child. When they run into each other, Juno encourages Vanessa to touch her belly and speak to the baby. At school, Juno learns that Paulie asked Katrina De Voort to go to prom and has a falling out with him. Juno again visits Mark to listen to music; he reveals he is leaving Vanessa because a baby will not fix their broken marriage.

Juno storms out of the room in tears and encounters Vanessa in the next room who confronts both of them. While Mark says he is unprepared to be a father, Vanessa asks him to mature and become a father to their child. As Juno watches their marriage fall apart, she runs out. She tries to compose herself for a few moments on the side of the highway, and drives to a local convenience store. While in the parking lot, Juno writes a note on a discarded receipt, leaves it on the Lorings' doorstep, and drives away. Juno returns home and her father gives her advice about finding love and being in a relationship. Juno realizes that she loves Paulie and stuffs his mailbox full of his favorite orange Tic Tacs that night. At the track field the next day, they reconcile and begin a relationship with a public kiss.

Juno ultimately gives birth to a baby boy; she decides not to call Paulie because he had a very important track meet that day, which he wins. When Paulie sees Juno is not in the stands cheering for him, he runs straight from the track to the hospital in only his running gear. He climbs into her hospital bed to console Juno who is more distraught over giving up her child than she realized she would be. Juno and Paulie agree it is best to not see the baby because they never felt as if he belonged to them, but rather was always meant for Vanessa. Vanessa claims the boy from the nursery as Bren looks on and in the baby's nursery at Vanessa's house, Juno's note on the receipt is framed on the wall: "Vanessa, if you're still in, I'm still in. -Juno." The film concludes with a final kiss between Juno and Paulie after they sing and play The Moldy Peaches' song "Anyone Else But You".

Cast

Soundtrack

Main article: Juno (soundtrack)

The soundtrack features an eclectic variety of music, including songs by indie pop band Belle and Sebastian (songs "Expectations" from Tigermilk and "Piazza, New York Catcher" from Dear Catastrophe Waitress), Barry Louis Polisar, anti-folk singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, the Kinks, Dawson's former band The Moldy Peaches, and The Velvet Underground. In addition, the various rock music that Juno and Mark exchange throughout the movie are contained on the soundtrack, a fairly unusual practice for the genre.

The soundtrack has also been generally well received, by critics and moviegoers alike. It saw unexpectedly high sales, becoming the best-selling album on the United States iTunes music store upon release and remaining so for more than ten weeks thereafter.

Track listing

  1. "All I Want is You" - Barry Louis Polisar
  2. "My Rollercoaster" - Kimya Dawson
  3. "A Well Respected Man" - The Kinks
  4. "Dearest" - Buddy Holly
  5. "Up the Spout" - Mateo Messina
  6. "Tire Swing" - Kimya Dawson
  7. "Piazza, New York Catcher" - Belle and Sebastian
  8. "Loose Lips" - Kimya Dawson
  9. "Superstar" - Sonic Youth
  10. "Sleep" - Kimya Dawson
  11. "Expectations" - Belle and Sebastian
  12. "All the Young Dudes" - Mott the Hoople
  13. "So Nice So Smart" - Kimya Dawson
  14. "Sea of Love" - Cat Power
  15. "Tree Hugger" - Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants
  16. "I'm Sticking with You" - The Velvet Underground
  17. "Anyone Else But You" - The Moldy Peaches
  18. "Vampire" - Antsy Pants
  19. "Anyone Else But You" - Ellen Page and Michael Cera

Reception

Produced with a modest budget of $7.5M,[2] Juno grossed over $100 million in the U.S. as of January 27, 2008.[3] The movie benefited from an extremely positive critical reception; as of January 19 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 164 reviews.[4] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.[5] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars and called it "just about the best movie of the year. [...] Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so."[6] Entertainment magazine Paste also named Juno the best film of 2007, in its year-end "Signs of Life" issue.[7]

The film has received nominations for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress for Ellen Page.[8]

Top 10 lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[9]

Similarities to Jenny, Juno

Rumors arose about the movie's similarities to a Korean movie from 2005, Jenny, Juno, which also dealt with teen pregnancy. In the latter, 'Juno' is the boy's name and the plot centers on his personal growth and increasing maturity with his decision to support his pregnant girlfriend any way he could. Nonetheless, this coincidence has been addressed by the screenwriter Diablo Cody in her blog:

Unbeknownst to me, we had another spiritual cousin out there, a Korean movie called "Jenny, Juno", This time, the cousinry goes one step further and the movie is about--seriously--a pregnant teenager and her cute, sweet boyfriend. (The guy character is named Juno, not the girl.) There's no adoption subplot and apparently the film is otherwise dissimilar to mine, but how fucked up is that? I bring this up because a journalist drilled me about it recently--awkward!--and also because I saw someone on our IMDb board wondering if Juno was a remake of the K-flick. So for the record, 1.) it isn't a remake 2.) I haven't seen 'Jenny, Juno,' though I want to now, and 3.) I don't think anyone would even bat an eye about this if my film was called Jenny. The name Juno is just so darned distinctive that confusion is inevitable.[15]

Awards

Wins

Nominations

References

  1. ^ "Juno (2007) - Daily Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  2. ^ Los Angeles Times Business News, Jan. 14, 2008
  3. ^ "Juno". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  4. ^ "Juno - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  5. ^ "Juno (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  6. ^ Roger Ebert (2007-12-14). ":: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Juno (xhtml)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Signs of Life 2007: Best Films (2007)". Paste. Retrieved 2007-12-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "80th Academy Awards nominations". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
  9. ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  10. ^ Roger Ebert (2007-12-20). "The year's ten best films and other shenanigans". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Juno scores best comedy
  12. ^ David Germain (2007-12-27). "'No Country for Old Men' earns nod from AP critics". Associated Press, via Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ DB (2007-12-29). "Richard Roeper's 10 Best Films of 2007". Retrieved 2008-01-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Travers, Peter, (December 19, 2007) "Peter Travers' Best and Worst Movies of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
  15. ^ Diablo Cody (October 2007). "The Pussy Ranch: October 2007". diablocody.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007". goldenglobes.org. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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