Juno (2007): B

Director(s): Jason Reitman. Screenplay: Diablo Cody. Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Olivia Thirlby, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Rainn Wilson and Lucas MacFadden. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures. Runtime: 92 min. Rating: PG-13.

The brilliance of Juno is in the way it presents itself to the audience. After the pretentious, smug, absurdly overrated Thank You for Smoking, I walked in with low expectations; totally unlike Jason Reitman's previous film, Juno is a wonderfully unpretentious character study that, in the long run, ends up being more touching than any recent comedy has the right to be. The film stars Ellen Page—and inhabiting it perfectly—as its titular character Juno, a sixteen year old who finds herself knocked up by her best friend (Michael Cera); abortion seems to not exactly be Juno's most-wanted option, as she opts for foster parents (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) to take care of her child once born. Reitman unpretentiously frames his narrative through seasons, while Cody's witty script seems to beautifully encapsulate Juno's overall psyche through each one. And while the film's first fifteen minutes or so are incredibly dull and dowdy in their familiarity, Juno marvelously finds its soul—by the end, it achieves an unfathomably graceful, almost pitch-perfect harmony.