"Juno" (2007)

The Good:
Sometimes, especially around awards season, every film is drawn out and excruciatingly melodramatic. Juno is the exact opposite. For its full (and short) 92 minute runtime, I was completely enthralled. The movie started at 10:30 P.M. and not once did I want to check my phone for the time, yawn, or look around the theatre. I was captivitated. Much of that is due to Diablo Cody's freshman screenplay, which is one of the tightest and best comedy screenplays I've seen in a long time. All of the lines were perfect, and not one awkward moment ensued without it being deliberately awkward, which fit perfectly in to the feel of the whole film. There were pop culture references galore, but enough that somebody not well-versed in pop culture wouldn't be completely lost. Plus, for a comedy the film has so much heart, and that makes the film more than just a comedy about a teenager who gets pregnant. This film has by far the best screenplay I've seen all year.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed out. Each character is real, and doesn't feel like you're watching a character in a movie, but a live person. There were no caricatures in the film whatsoever. Jennifer Garner's Vanessa was in pain over her inability to bear children, and you could feel that emanating at you from the screen. As much as I wanted Juno to keep the baby for herself, I also wanted Vanessa to have a great chance at motherhood. And unlike the recent comedy Superbad, which I felt was an extreme portrayal of teen perversion and awkwardness, Juno finds a wonderful rhythm that perfectly portrays how teenagers really act and speak. Not much swearing or sexual references, but enough to not make the teenagers sounds older than they really are.

The soundtrack, though subdued and quiet, is a perfect fit for each scene that a song plays in. With a mixture of recognizable bands such as Sonic Youth and Mott the Hoople, and filled with more indie fare such as The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson, and Belle & Sebastian, each song seems to have been chosen perfectly for each situation. The opening song is perfect, as is Michael Cera and Ellen Page's rendition of The Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You", which ends the movie on a perfect note.

Overall:
A movie with perfect characters, a great screenplay, and so much heart deserves to be called one of the best of 2007.

A