I was actually a few minutes late. I don’t remember why. I think I was closing up at work and was dawdling or something.
When I went to go sit down I was kind of nervous because my friends decided to sit in the front row. It’s just like in class when you’re late and the only seats left are in front. Everyone is looking at you and the teacher glares disapprovingly or makes a remark like, “Thank you for joining us Mr. Roberts.” So, I put on my 007 suit, snuck up to the front and oozed into my seat, all while defeating a super-villain, karate-chopping a henchmen and wooing a scantily clad woman with a suspicious name and even more precarious accent. Only three of those things happened; take a guess.
When I was settled into my seat and began engaging myself in the movie, I immediately felt the weight of self-consciousness melt away. I instantly felt comfortable in my skin and with my surroundings, almost as though the whimsical aura flowing from the screen mixed with the charming selection of guy/girl acoustic and Indie tunes soothed me from paranoid-movie-interrupter to pacified-movie-watcher.
It made me feel good. And I guess that’s what all the rambling up above was supposed to convey.
I was charmed over the course of the movie, especially by Ellen Page who plays the sharp-witted, sharp-tongued mother-to-be, Juno. Her snide comments, absolute practicality, awkward naivety and girl-next-door attitude hooked me. If I went to her high school I would want to be her friend. Michael Cera plays Paulie Bleeker, but as usual, he really just plays himself, and it fits. He’s pretty funny (as usual), as Juno’s best friend and father of the child.
Mostly out of boredom, best friends Juno and Paulie, decide to make out and BAM, Juno’s pregnant. (Editors Note: This is not really how babies are made. Our write has been notified of this discrepancy.)
The majority of the movie follows Juno: struggling through school, cruising the mall and baking the bun in the oven.
After breaking the news to her parents and weighing all her options, Juno decides to keep the baby after her and a friend spot adoption ads in a newspaper. She finds a wonderful couple that has not been able to conceive, located in none other than St. Cloud, Minn.! How cool is that? Such nice people we have here in Minnesota. As Juno starts to move along with the pregnancy the movie keeps pace, following all the problems she encounters at school, home, with the adoptive family and with herself, which is probably more than I could ever handle in my entire life, let alone as a pregnant teen.
I don't really think this was the intent of the movie, but I now have the utmost respect for anyone dealing with any aspect of an unexpected pregnancy at any point in his or her life.
As an added bonus, the soundtrack is super addicting and features some awesome tunes form Sonic Youth, The Moldy Peaches and Belle and Sebastian. The Moldy Peaches sing the “Anyone Else But You” song and Kimya Dawson also has some songs on the CD I remember from the movie. It really is pretty addictive, mostly because you can sing along to all the songs.
Check out Juno while it’s still in town.

Questions or comments?
Contact Jonathan at
JPRobert1732@winona.edu