Reviewed by Max Foizey.

Release Date: December 21, 2007
Directed By: Jason Reitman
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman
Rating: PG-13

Writer Diablo Cody (Brook Busey-Hunt) is generating plenty of buzz with the adaptation of her first screenplay, "Juno."  Mz. Cody has a colorful past and has written a colorful screenplay, which has some calling her 'The Next Tarantino.' High praise indeed.

And not altogether unwarranted, as "Juno" is crass, funny, serious, and heartwarming, sometimes all in the same scene. The plot revolves around sixteen year old Juno MacGuff (Page, in a star-making role) who finds herself with child after hooking up with her best pal, Paulie Bleeker. (Cera, doing the 'who, me?' face he does so well.)

After weighing her options, Juno decides to give her child up for adoption, provided she can find parents she approves of. Nobody too square, of course. Juno is a post-grunge indie-minded young lass, in love with the Sex Pistols, but completely unaware of The Melvins.

Thanks to a classified ad (Hey! Give us your kid!) Juno finds Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), and deems them hep enough to take her offspring for their own.

Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons are pitch perfect as Juno's somewhat understanding parents, and Jennifer Garner takes a role that some would have played as a wicked witch and makes her character much more human. But besides the title character, Jason Bateman PWNS this film. The script is cute and winks at the audience with hip lines, but halfway through the tone spins on a dime, and Bateman nails it.

I'm happy to see Jason get more work these days. He's taking some real chances with the parts he takes, and he's usually the best part of the film he appears in, whether it's "The Kingdom" or "Smokin' Aces."  

Ellen Page is one to watch, make no mistake. From her terrifying performance in the uneven "Hard Candy," to proving she could hang with SFX in "X-Men: The Last Stand," Page has been mesmerizing on screen. I wouldn't be surprised if she were nominated for an Academy Award for her work in "Juno," as she makes the title character live and breathe.

Director Jason Reitman has chosen a sort of Wes Anderson world in which to set these characters, and that's undoubtedly a big reason why this film works. Reitman's last project, "Thank You For Smoking" was excellent as well, so now he's two for two. I'm sure it makes daddy Ivan proud.

The final scene, featuring a  s l o w  pullback of our main characters as they sing "Anyone Else But You" by The Moldy Peaches, is just brilliant.

So is screenwriter Diablo Cody the next big force in filmmaking? The new Tarantino? It's simply too early to tell. Her script sounds more to me like "Heathers" era Daniel Waters anyway. (That's not a bad thing.)

"Juno" may be a bit too rough-and-tumble for some moviegoers who aren't used to seeing teens act the way they do in real life (some teens, I should say), but if you are or ever have considered yourself a misfit, then you'll feel right at home.

In addition to hosting 'Max on Movies' on Saturday nights at 7pm on 97.1 FM Talk, Max appears weekly on the Dave Glover Show Fridays at 5pm. A member of the Saint Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, Max has written about film and theatre for various print and Web media, and appeared as guest critic on various nationally syndicated radio shows. Max lives in Missouri and yet is a diehard Miami Dolphins fan. Max not only considers himself a misfit, he enjoys the music of the Misfits as well. And the Melvins. Oh, and in case you were wondering, "Arrested Development" alums Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, though both in the movie, share no scenes together.