Juno

Juno

Starring – Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons

Directed by Jason Reitman

Released 2008 by Fox Searchlight

Genre – Real Life/ Drama

Sub genre – Comedy, Romance

Reading Level/Interest – 15 – 18

Plot Summary –

Juno finds herself pregnant after a one time sexual encounter with her male best friend. She thinks she wants an abortion and goes to the local clinic, only to dislike the people in the clinic and the attitude towards her and her choices. She decides to have the baby given up for adoption instead and her friend Leah and her, go through the Pennysaver and find a couple that wants to adopt. Juno tells her parents, Mac her dad and Bren, her stepmother, that she is pregnant and her decision for adoption and they offer their support.

Juno goes to meet the people in the Pennysaver ad, Mark and Vanessa, in their home with her father and they agree to adopt and that the adoption will be closed, Juno will have no more contact with the child after it is born and they will take care of all expenses. Juno goes over to visit with the dad to be, Mark, sometimes, to watch horror films, and listen to music they both like. Mark seems to be living a little in the past and not quite ready to be an adult yet, which appeals to Juno, who is still a kid.

Juno starts to struggle with her feelings for Paulie, the father of the kid, Mark, the adoptive father, and with Vanessa, who she thinks should have her baby.

Critical Evaluation –

The main theme is unplanned pregnancy and how she deals with it. Some argue that it is a Pro-life theme others argue that it is a Pro-choice theme. The main point is that Juno makes her choice, and that Juno, at this point and time was against an abortion for her particular situation, but maybe not for someone else or a different situation or issue.

Another theme is a very independent teenager or young woman. Juno made all of her own choices in this film and not just because she had to. Her parents are very supportive and would have helped her out, but she makes her own decisions and faces the consequences of her choices. She is smart without being manipulative, even though she still makes bad choices and is sometimes naive. She decides to have sex with Paulie, and gets pregnant.  She makes the decision to have an adoption. She picks out the parents. When their marriage falls apart, she also makes the decision that Vanessa should still have the baby. She tells Paulie she is in love with him. She decides everything in this movie.

Screenwriter’s Annotation –

Diablo Cody is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Minnesota to live with her Internet boyfriend, Jonny who later became her husband. While there, she decided on a whim to take up stripping as a hobby of sorts.

She was working at an ad agency and got a promotion. The job wore her ragged and was something she did not particularly care for. It demanded organization, which is something at which she was not very good. Eventually, she quit her day job with Jonny’s blessings and began stripping full-time. During the course of about a year she went from Amateur Night, which was her first stripping experience, to a place she refers to in her book as Sheiks, then to Déjà Vu, and so on. She then took up work as a phone-sex operator before returning to stripping.

Shortly thereafter she decided to quit stripping and she and Jonny married. They moved to what she refers to as “the ‘burbs, and no one strips unless they’re taking a bubble bath.” Her stepdaughter was the flower girl in the wedding.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Nikki

Reader’s Annotation –

Juno has sex with her best friend and gets pregnant.  How will she handle the pregnancy, friends and family as well as the father of her kid?

Curriculum Ties –

Child Development, Sex Education

Booktalking Ideas –

Casual Sex

Challenge Issues –

Sexual Situations, Abortion, Adoption, Older Man Attracted to Younger Girl, Causal Sex, Pregnancy

Why Did I Choose This?

Top ten lists

The film appeared on critics’ top ten lists of the best films of 2007:

Awards

The film received four 2008 Academy Awards nominations: Best Original Screenplay, which Diablo Cody won, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Ellen Page.[103]

Reitman expressed disappointment that Juno was ruled ineligible for the Genie Award nominations:

It’s a Canadian director, Canadian stars, Canadian cast, Canadian crew, shot in Canada—how are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg‘s film [Eastern Promises] about Russians living in London shot in England with a British crew and British cast is eligible? I’m sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me.[104]

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.[105] 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.[105] Nonetheless, Genie spokesman Chris McDowall said that while the film was not evaluated for eligibility since it was not submitted, “Financing is one of the criteria, but it’s not everything.”[105] Despite this, the film was eligible for the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards, receiving two wins from three nominations.[106][107]

Wins

Nominations

  • 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards
    • Best Actor – Michael Cera; Cera received two nominations and did win the award, but for his work in Superbad.[106][107]

Reference –

http://www.amazon.com/Juno-Single-Disc-Ellen-Page/dp/B000YABYLA/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1435894572&sr=1-2&keywords=juno

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_%28film%29

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1959505/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

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