Juno (film)

{{Infobox film | name = Juno | image = Junoposter2007.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Jason Reitman | producer = John MalkovichLianne HalfonMason NovickRussell Smith | writer = Diablo Cody | starring = Ellen PageMichael CeraJennifer GarnerJason BatemanAllison JanneyJ. K. SimmonsOlivia Thirlby | music = Mateo Messina | cinematography = Eric Steelberg | editing = Dana E. Glauberman | studio = Mandate PicturesMr. Mudd | distributor = Fox Searchlight Pictures | released = | runtime = 96 minutes | country = | language = English | budget = $6.5 | gross = $231,411,584 The film has gone on to earn more than 35 times that amount for a total of $231 million, becoming the highest grossing film in distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures's history.

Juno received numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life and pro-choice communities regarding its treatment of abortion.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Minnesota high-schooler Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers she is pregnant with a child fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). While at first she intends to have an abortion, she changes her mind and decides to make a plan for the child's adoption. With the help of her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver and finds a couple she feels will provide a suitable home. She also decides to come clean with her father, Mac (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother, Bren (Allison Janney), who offer their support. Along with Mac, Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), in their expensive home and expresses a desire for a closed adoption.

Vanessa, while grateful, is somewhat anxious that Juno may change her mind, and their initial interactions are uneasy. However, Juno and Leah happen to see Vanessa in a shopping mall being completely at ease with a child, and Juno encourages Vanessa to talk to her baby in the womb, where it obligingly kicks for her. On the other hand, Juno more easily forms a friendship with Mark, with whom she shares tastes in punk rock and horror films. Mark, who has set aside his rock band youth (now confined to memorabilia displayed in the one room of the house allowed him by Vanessa), works at home composing commercial jingles. Juno hangs out with Mark a few times when visiting the house, ignoring a warning from Bren that she should not spend time alone with a married man.

As the pregnancy progresses, Juno struggles with the emotions she feels for her baby's father, Paulie, who is clearly—although passively—in love with Juno. Juno maintains an outwardly indifferent attitude toward Paulie, but when she learns he has asked another girl to the upcoming prom, she is hurt and angrily confronts him. Paulie reminds Juno that it is at her request they remain distant and tells her that she broke his heart. He also suggests that she has feelings for him she is unable to admit.

Not long before her baby is due, Juno is again visiting with Mark when their interaction becomes strongly emotional. Mark then tells her that he will be leaving Vanessa. To his surprise, Juno is horrified by this revelation, with Mark asking Juno "how do you think of me", implying that Mark has romantic feelings for teenaged Juno. Vanessa arrives home, and, to her shock, Mark tells her he does not feel ready to be a father and that there are still things he wants to do first—dreams Vanessa does not share. Juno watches the Loring marriage fall apart, then drives away and breaks down in tears by the side of the road before coming to a decision. Returning to the Lorings' home, she leaves a note for Vanessa and disappears as they answer the door.

After a heartfelt discussion with Mac, Juno accepts that she loves Paulie. Juno then tells Paulie that she loves him, and Paulie's actions make it clear that her feelings are very much reciprocated. Not long after, Juno goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital, where she gives birth to a baby boy. She had deliberately not told Paulie because of his track meet. Seeing her missing from the stands, Paulie figures it out and he rushes to the hospital, arriving to find Juno has given birth to their son, and comforts Juno as she cries. Vanessa comes to the hospital where she joyfully claims the newborn boy as a single adoptive mother. On the wall in the baby's new nursery, Vanessa has framed Juno's note—addressed only to her—which reads "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. —Juno." The film ends in the summertime with Juno and Paulie playing guitar and singing together, followed by a kiss.

Themes

{{Quote box | quote = "You can look at it as a film that celebrates life and celebrates childbirth, or you can look at it as a film about a liberated young girl who makes a choice to continue being liberated. Or you can look at it as some kind of twisted love story, you know, a meditation on maturity." | source = Diablo Cody while Jeff Dawson of The Sunday Times believed that the film was inevitably placed in the "unwanted pregnancy sub-genre" with Knocked Up and Waitress due to its subject matter, but thought that its interpretation as a pro-life film only "muddied the waters". A. O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, agreed that Juno has "an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood". Ellen Page commented, "What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd... The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that." Cody and Page have openly stated that they are pro-choice; Reitman thought that it was "fantastic" that both pro-life and pro-choice groups were embracing the film. He said that "Juno seems to be a mirror, and people [on both sides] see themselves in it".

Other critics labeled Juno as feminist because of its portrayal of Juno as a confident and intelligent teenage girl. Antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly wrote that Juno's theme "isn't love, romance, or respect for life, but the triumph of feminist ideology, i.e., the irrelevancy of men, especially fathers". Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe concluded "Juno serves cool, intelligent girls something they rarely see in a movie: themselves". Cody said about writing the film, "Women are clever, women are funny, women are sharp, and I wanted to show that these girls were human and not the stereotypical teenage girls that we often see in the media" and "There was a lack of authentic teen girl characters ... I saw writing this screenplay as an opportunity to create an iconic female." Page praised the film for its positive depiction of teenage girls, describing Juno's character as "really refreshing and allow[ing] for new possibilities in what young women can be" Reitman was interested in the personal/political conflict for Vanessa's character: "Feminism has paved the way for Vanessa’s career, but ultimately Vanessa wants to be a full time mother."

Production

Development

wrote the film based on many of her own high school experiences.]] Diablo Cody was first approached to write a screenplay by film producer Mason Novick, who had previously landed Cody a book deal for her memoir, , after discovering her blog about stripping. He persuaded her to adapt the book for the screen, but suggested that she first write a screenwriting sample to show studios, and that sample became Juno. She also found inspiration in the story of a close friend who had become pregnant in high school, and used some details from her friend's experience in the film, such as mistreatment from an ultrasound technician. Much of the film, however, was based on Cody's own high school experiences: she dated a tic-tac-loving boy similar to Paulie, she was best friends with a cheerleader like Leah, and she used a hamburger phone identical to the one that appears in the film. Cody compared writing to breathing, seeing Juno as an extension of herself.

Novick sent Cody's screenplay to his friend Jason Reitman; by the time Reitman had read halfway through the script, he felt that if he did not direct the film, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Other directors, including Jon Poll, were considered, but Reitman was chosen and he interrupted work on his own spec script in order to direct Juno. Cody says she had a cynical attitude when writing the film ("I didn't ever think this film would be produced"), After its controversial nature scared off a number of major studios, John Malkovich's production company, Mr. Mudd, took on the project,

Casting

as Juno when he first read the script.]] Having previously admired her performance in Hard Candy, Reitman cast Ellen Page in the lead role, saying that when he read the screenplay for the first time he pictured her as Juno. He visited her on the set of a film on which she was working to offer her the role. He also handed the script to J.K. Simmons, who had featured in his previous film, Thank You for Smoking, not telling him that he intended Simmons to play Mac. Simmons says that after reading the script, he would have been happy to play even the high school teacher who has no speaking lines. Other cast members Reitman had "in mind right from the start" were Olivia Thirlby—who had originally unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Juno—and Michael Cera. He took them with Page and Simmons to a Panavision stage in California and shot 45 pages of the script on 35 mm film against a black backdrop. He presented this footage to Fox Searchlight as the initial cast. He highlighted the importance of doing a screen test instead of individual auditions, saying: "This is a movie that’s all about relationships and the idea of auditioning people outside of each other, one-on-one with the casting director, didn’t make sense." was confirmed by Reitman to have signed onto the project in January 2007. After working with Jason Bateman on The Kingdom, Garner recommended him to Reitman when they first met, and Bateman was cast as Mark, Lucas McFadden, better known as Cut Chemist, a DJ and record producer, makes a cameo appearance as Juno and Paulie's chemistry teacher. McFadden was doing scoring work for Reitman when he received the Juno screenplay and asked McFadden to appear in the film; Reitman thought that it was "perfect irony" for the chemistry teacher to be played by DJ Cut Chemist.

Filming

stood in for the fictional Dancing Elk High School.]] Shooting on a budget of US$6.5 million, standing in for Minnesota, where production was originally intended to take place. Although films commonly use a Canada-as-America location shift for budgetary reasons, Reitman insists the choice of filming location was instead at his request. Eric Hamber Secondary School as Dancing Elk High School, and South Surrey's Athletic Park track as Dancing Elk High School's athletics track.

After minimal rehearsal, filming spanned from early February across to March 2007 on a six-week schedule, Director Jason Reitman explains:

"At one point, I asked Ellen Page before we started shooting, ‘[W]hat do you think Juno listens to?’ And she said [‘The Moldy Peaches.'] She went on my computer, played the songs, and I fell in love with it. Diablo and I discussed putting a Moldy Peaches song in it where the characters would sing to each other. I got in touch with Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches[,] and she started sending me her work, which was beautiful, and that became a lot of the soundtrack."

provided both solo songs and songs from two of her former bands.]] Reitman contacted Dawson, and, after reading the film's screenplay, she agreed for her songs to be used in the film, sending him a packet of CDs containing about 120 songs. Reitman asked her to additionally re-record instrumentals, which included humming over the lyrics of some of her songs. He also contacted composer Mateo Messina, with whom he had previously worked on Thank You for Smoking, to compose the film's incidental score. Experimenting with different guitars, he ended up using "Stella," a second-hand guitar belonging to guitarist Billy Katz that he described as "kind of tinny, not perfectly in tune, but [it] has all kinds of character." Katz was hired to perform acoustic and classical guitar for the movie's score, using "Stella" extensively throughout. He felt that the Sonic Youth cover of "Superstar" defined Juno and Mark's relationship—Juno preferring the classic 1971 version by the Carpenters while Mark preferred Sonic Youth's 1994 cover.

Design

The film was set out in a sequence of the year's seasons, which, director Jason Reitman explains, "really resonated with me when I read it, because they mirror the three trimesters of Juno's pregnancy." The walls of Juno's room are covered with posters of bands, while Leah's room includes a mural of older men whom she finds attractive, and Paulie's room is designed to be overly childlike to indicate his innocence. She dressed Vanessa in clothes that were "simple and very tasteful" but with an "anal-retentive quality," while dressing Mark in conservative clothing that complements Vanessa's taste. and a variety of sizes of fake breasts. The footage displayed on Juno's ultrasound monitor is of supervising sound designer Scott Sanders's son Matthew and was embedded into the scene in post-production.

Opening title sequence

Juno's opening title sequence, depicting a rotoscoped Juno walking through her town while drinking a bottle of SunnyD orange drink, was put together over 7–8 months Reitman had met the studio's co-founder Gareth Smith in Japan on the short film festival circuit where they each had shorts screening. With vintage 1970s punk-rock posters as inspiration, Smith and artist Jenny Lee decided to create a sequence that "had texture and a little bit of edge, but also imparted the warmth and heart of the screenplay". In the last days of filming in Vancouver, Juno premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and received a standing ovation, which prompted film critic Roger Ebert to say "I don’t know when I've heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm." It went on to feature at the Austin Film Festival, Rome Film Festival, London Film Festival, Bahamas International Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival, International Thessaloniki Film Festival, Gijón International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam, earning awards and nominations at several.

Although Juno was originally intended to open in theaters on December 15, 2007, it was moved forward to take advantage of the positive reviews and buzz preceding its release, and opened in limited release on December 5, playing in only seven theaters in Los Angeles and New York City. It opened in an additional thirteen cities and around 25 theaters on December 14, expanding further on December 21 before entering wide release on December 25. Following Juno's release, Fox Searchlight sent hamburger phones styled similarly to that used by Juno in the film to journalists and critics to entice them to review the film. Though the phones were originally distributed in small numbers to viewers at promotional events, companies not affiliated with Fox Searchlight began to produce and sell the phones on eBay and other online stores. In the month after the film's release, sales of the phone on eBay increased by 759 percent In Japan Juno-themed Be@rbrick toys were released in June 2008. The toys were released as part of a contest; the deadline to enter the contest was June 6, 2008.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on April 15, 2008. It is available in a single disc DVD edition, which includes the movie along with an audio commentary by director Reitman and writer Cody, eleven deleted scenes, a gag reel, a 'gag take' (including a profanity laden blow-up by Rainn Wilson), a "Cast & Crew Jam", and screen tests. The two-disc DVD edition includes the same extra content and four additional featurettes ("Way Beyond 'Our' Maturity Level: Juno – Leah – Bleeker", "Diablo Cody Is Totally Boss", "Jason Reitman For Shizz", and "Honest To Blog! Creating Juno"), while the second disc is a DRM-encrypted version of the film for portable players. The Blu-ray version includes all the two-disc DVD edition extras and two additional featurettes: "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Juno World Premiere" and "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session".

Reception

Box office performance

In limited release and playing in only seven theaters in Los Angeles and New York City, Juno grossed US$420,113 over its debut weekend, averaging $60,016 per screen. The film has grossed $143,495,265 in the United States and $87,916,319 in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $231,411,584. It was also the highest-grossing of the five Best Picture nominees for the 80th Academy Awards.

Critical reaction

The film benefited from an extremely positive critical reception; as of March 15, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 197 reviews, and 100% of "top critics" gave the film positive reviews, based on 35 reviews, making it the best reviewed comedy film on the website in 2007. On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews. 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." Ebert went on to place Juno at number one on his annual best of list. The film also ranks at number 463 in Empire magazine's 2008 list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Juno MacGuff also ranked number 56 on Empire's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

However, not all critics share the positive view towards Juno. David Edelstein of New York magazine felt that the film was desperate to be "a movie that confers hipness on teens, that makes kids want to use the same slang and snap up the soundtrack". Music reviewer Jim DeRogatis criticized the film's stylized dialogue and what he saw as a casual take on abortion and Juno's naïveté in becoming pregnant, claiming: "As an unapologetically old-school feminist, the father of a soon-to-be-teenage daughter, a reporter who regularly talks to actual teens as part of his beat and a plain old moviegoer, I hated, hated, hated this movie."

"The Juno Effect"

In 2008, after 17 students under sixteen years of age at a Gloucester, Massachusetts high school became pregnant, Time magazine called it the "Juno Effect". Time stated that some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip while others accused films such as Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing teenage pregnancy. Kristelle Miller, an Adolescent Psychology Professor at University of Minnesota-Duluth stated that "[t]he 'Juno effect' is how media glamorizes pregnancy and how it's also... pregnancy is also redemptive of any past problems".

In September 2008, after Senator John McCain named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, it was revealed that Gov. Palin's daughter, Bristol, age 17, was pregnant with the child of another teenager. News reports and editorials termed Bristol Palin's pregnancy as the latest episode in the debate over teen pregnancy of which Juno was a part, while commentators made comparisons between Bristol Palin's pregnancy and the film. Fox News' Roger Friedman wondered, "Juno at once violated and vindicated conservative values. The question is, will the public rally ‘round Bristol Palin the way it did Juno? Or will it reject her for getting in this situation in the first place?"

Juno actor Jason Bateman defended the film. "Unfortunately," he said, "we’ve had these instances where guys kill people because of what they hear in rock ‘n roll lyrics or some garbage like that. Look, if you’re going to blame a movie or song for your actions, whether they be good or bad, I think you’re looking at the wrong things to influence your life. I think people should look to other areas of their life for lessons and guidance, mainly parents, or teachers, or friends, or whomever. That should probably be where you should point your eyes and ears."

Top ten lists

The film appeared on critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times 1st – Paste magazine staff 2nd – USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting (tied with Bella) 3rd – David Germain, Associated Press 3rd – Moviefone staff 4th – James Berardinelli, ReelViews 4th – Lou Lumenick, New York Post 4th – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times 6th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 10th – Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Reitman expressed disappointment that Juno was ruled ineligible for the Genie Award nominations: Sara Morton, the head of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, issued a statement explaining that the film had never been submitted for Genie Award consideration by its studio. The Hollywood Reporter explained that Genie rules define Canadian films as financed at least in part by Canadian sources, and because American companies Mandate Pictures and Fox Searchlight were the sole funders, Juno was ineligible.

*Best Original Screenplay

Critic's Choice Awards

*Best Comedy

Canadian Comedy Awards (2008)

*Best Actress – Ellen Page

*Best Director – Jason Reitman

National Board of Review

*Best Breakthrough Performance – Female (Ellen Page)

*Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody)

Satellite Awards

*Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (Ellen Page)

*Best Film – Musical or Comedy

Rome Film Festival

*Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody)

Independent Spirit Awards 2007

*Best Feature

*Best Female Lead – Ellen Page

*Best First Screenplay – Diablo Cody

The National Movie Awards 2008

* Best Comedy

Nominations

80th Academy Awards

*Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Lost to )

*Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Ellen Page) (Lost to Marion Cotillard)

*Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (Diablo Cody) (Lost to The Coen Brothers)

61st British Academy Film Awards

Rhino announced in March 2008 that would be available through digital-only release, a second volume of songs that were considered for but not included in the film. The fifteen tracks include songs by previously featured artists Kimya Dawson, Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian and Buddy Holly, as well as Astrud Gilberto, The Bristols, Jr. James & The Late Guitar, Trio Los Panchos, Yo La Tengo and Ellen Page singing "Zub Zub", written by Diablo Cody as part of the script in a deleted scene. Rhino also released a Deluxe Edition, on November 25, 2008, containing both the original soundtrack as well as B-Sides in a two-disc set, along with storyboards from the film and additional liner notes from Reitman.

References

External links

Shadowplay Studio's Juno page

Category:2007 films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:Adoption-related works Category:American comedy-drama films Category:American coming-of-age films Category:American teen comedy films Category:Films set in Minnesota Category:Films shot in British Columbia Category:Films shot in Vancouver Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Satellite Award Category:Fox Searchlight films Category:Independent films Category:Pregnancy films Category:Teen pregnancy in film and television