Juno is about a sixteen-year old high school girl who after experimenting sexually with her best friend Paulie, finds herself pregnant; but that is about where the similarity stops. What this film has that the likes of Miss Spears does not, is charm. In fact, this is without doubt the most charming film of the year, but it is more than that. Despite starting off as another teen movie, it ends as a film of depth and integrity.

       What director Jason Rietman and first time scriptwriter Diablo Cody have done with this film is nothing short of remarkable. The script crackles with energy and youth. It takes a teen movie and turns it into something so much more. The comedy that is based on both character and situation never steps out of truth. Some scenes are shocking, some are touching but none are extraneous or unnecessary. They have given the film that touch of magic that lifts it into the realm of something more than just a movie. The characters become more like friends and it is a real shame when the credits role, as you want to spend so much more time in their company.

       Set over the obligatory nine months this film opens with Juno taking the ‘test’ and coming up positive. She toys with the idea of an abortion but then at the last moment decides that she can’t go through with it and instead she will put the baby up for adoption. So, after telling her Dad and step mom then checking the ‘penny saver’ (next to the pet section) for a suitable couple to adopt the quickly swelling sprog all she has to do is, survive the next nine months at school, sort out her feelings towards the babies father and ensure that the couple she has found for adoption are perfect and have a baby. Not bad for a sixteen year old.

       Ellen Page is fantastic as Juno MacGuff, the girl who in her own words, is ‘dealing with things way beyond her maturity level.’ She brings so much energy and life to the role that Juno is one of the most likeable characters in recent cinema. Her portrayal is so assured and confident that you expect her to have a backlog of hundreds of films behind her and been acting since she was conceived. In fact this is only the twenty year old actress’s second film, but I have no doubt she is going to become one of the big stars of the future.

       Juno is underneath all the quick fire one liners and pregnancy just a kid in an impossibly hard situation who is doing the best she can. She is at times strong and completely lovable in a way far beyond her years while at others seemingly just a vulnerable kid. I defy anyone not to feel for her situation and the way she handles it with such bravado.

       Juno’s family (for a teen movie) are refreshingly sympathetic and smart about her delicate condition. When she tells them she’s pregnant, in one of the funniest scenes in the film, they don’t get angry they simply deal with the problem in a mature way. They are caring parents who, although not without their faults, love each other and show that to the children. Alison Jenny as Bren and J.K. Simmons as Mac make the characters not just real but likeable and quirky without ever going over the top. So much so that you can see why Juno herself is so lovable, who wouldn’t be with these parents?

       The couple who are set to adopt Juno’s baby are Vanessa and Mark Loring. They live in a perfect house on a perfect street and seem to be perfect in every way, apart from the baby they so desperately want and cannot have. She has a mega watt smile and is permanently in pearls and cashmere sweaters and he is an ex-rock and roller who now writes jingles for a living and watches horror movies. Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman play the couple perfectly, her baby obsessed and him unsatisfied with life in the burbs. Garner who is normally seen with a sword or gun in her hand is great as the obsessed would be mother. She has just the right amount of obsession and need which she displays elegantly when they meet by accident in a mall. Bateman as her husband does a lovely job as a forty year old teenager who still wants to rock. You feel for them both as victims of separate time lines, both wanting from life what they have not got.

       Paulie, (Michael Cera) is the track and tic-tack loving father of the unborn child. He is Juno’s best friend and fellow band member and although not your regular leading man he does the job excellently. Her other best friend Leah (Olivia Thirby) is a good counterpart to Juno, teacher obsessed and endearing.

       There is nothing about this film that lets you down. The acting, script, direction are all superb, it even has the best soundtrack since Garden State. There maybe some people who feel it is too simplistic or that it trivializes the subject of teenage pregnancy, but when you are there in the dark just look around. You will see the entire audience leaning forward, laughing, rapt by the charm of this delightful film.

       Do yourself a favor; make some new friends; see this film.