Juno

Jason Reitman's Juno is a fun and engaging film containing quaint down-to-earth characters. There's the docile air conditioning and heater installing ex-military dad (J. K. Simmons), the can't-grow-up perennially juvenile heart throb (Jason Bateman), the cool, tough, and acerbic stepmom (Allison Janney), and the hopeful, grown-up, pre-matronly mom (Jennifer Garner). These characters are all given their chance to shine but Juno MacGuff steals the show, unilaterally portraying a troubled and confused artistic pregnant teenager.

Don't really know whether or not she's artistic, but she's funny and different, and thoughtful and independent, and the way in which she informs her impregnater Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) of her pregnancy is intelligent, and witty, and damned impressive.

Juno is a tough little working class suburban darling, who deals with shattering developments with the calm, tranquil repose of a successful CEO. Her observations are occasionally confused, often adolescent, and frequently forgetful, like most of your highschoolic philosophy, wherein lies her beauty, her presence, her terms of endearment. She's 17 stuck dealing with the demands of a professional, yet she doesn't miss a beat; she keeps her self perfectly in tact, leaving you certain that if she were to raise this child on her own, he or she would definitely have a wonderful mother.

And father, potentially. I don't why Juno was nominated for best picture when similarly touching films such as The Station Agent, Elephant, and La Grande Séduction were not, but hopefully its nomination represents a new trend within Hollywood, one which recognizes comedies that deal with disenfranchised life, valuing its vigorous, universal qualities, sticking up for lifestyles that aren't represented by the opening moments of an episode of Desperate Housewives. It's a great film representing many different sociological threads that one can encounter as time goes by, while offering a number of positive role models for such sartorial circumstances. Worth checking out.