Juno

Juno is a very sweet movie about a sixteen year old girl who is smart, sarcastic, and dealing with a pregnancy after one unplanned evening with her best male friend. She considers "nipping this thing in the bud" but can't quite handle the abortion clinic, so she decides to find the perfect family for her baby. She sees having the baby and giving it to some deserving but unfortunately infertile couple as an altruistic, almost saintly act, and quickly finds affluent suburbanites Vanessa and Mark Loring, who seem ideal. But of course, she still has to get through seven more months!

Characters:
* Juno, a cute brunette teenager
* Leah, her best girl friend, a blonde teenager who changes her hair a lot
* Paulie Bleeker, usually called just "Bleeker", Juno's best boy friend, and her baby's father.
* Juno's dad, a bald, middle aged man
* Juno's stepmom, Bren, a middle aged woman with blonde hair
* Vanessa Loring, a thirtysomething career woman with long dark hair who is desperate to be a mom.
* Mark Loring, the prospective daddy, who has short hair and is a musician

I really liked this movie. The story is great and takes some unexpected twists, and thankfully did NOT go down one particularly cliche path that I was afraid of, towards the end. The dialogue is very fast paced and funny, sort of like the television show Gilmore Girls, to the extent that you think, "nobody talks that quickly and cleverly without a script." The music is also wonderful, especially if you like contemporary hipster music or older punk. You can listen to the soundtrack at the official movie site.

The only face confusion had to do with Juno's best girl friend, Leah. She changes her hair a lot. But just know going in that there is only one blonde teenage girl that the movie draws any significant attention to, and you will be fine. The main characters are pretty distinct from each other, and the sea of high school students other than Juno and her two friends are not important to the plot except as a mass of disdainful kids.

If you happen to be familiar with the television show Arrested Development, you will have a head start because Bleeker is played by Michael Cera, the same actor who played George Michael Bluth, and Mark Loring is played by the actor who played George Michael's dad, Jason Bateman. Vanessa Loring is played by an actress whose features, especially the mouth, may make you think she is Julia Roberts, but actually she is Jennifer Garner (though that may just be me). Don't be fooled!

All in all, a fun, touching movie with great music, and highly recommended!

RATINGS:
Good movie? 5/5
Good for FB Folks? 4/5
More reviews: Rotten Tomatoes
Official Website: Juno