Dear Jodie - J is for Juno

Dear Jodie,

A number of critics called Juno one of the best movies of 2007.  My favorite critic, the late Roger Ebert, called it the best.  I certainly didn't see a movie that year I enjoyed more, hell I didn't see a movie I enjoyed as much.

I am a bit eccentric in that when I really enjoy a movie in the cinema, I go back to see it a time or two.  I saw Juno five times on the big screen . . . well, maybe more than that.

Ellen Page just kicks it as Juno MacGuff, creating a unique character, and one I loved the moment she hit the screen.  That love deepened over the rest of the movie.

As a writer as well, I have to mention Diablo Cody, the amazing screenwriter of Juno, because this is one of those movies that owes a great deal to the screenplay. Juno has her own way of speaking that helps define her character and that was largely the screenwriter.  Seriously, her screenplay was special.

The character I related to most was Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). When he was on the screen I traveled back in time 40 years. Take away the track team and add a hundred pounds and that could have been me.

And what can I say about Jennifer Garner as Vanessa Loring the adoptive mom. The scene in the mall where she oh-so-delicately and oh-so-desperately tries to make a connection with her yet-to-be-born child just pulled the tears out of my eyes and plastered a near-permanent smile on my face.

Juno has charm and depth, wit and . . . I usually hate this word when applied to movies . . . intelligence. It respects its characters, even loves them. Even the man-child Mark Loring (Jason Batemen) doesn't come across as villainous or evil . . . just a man going through an early mid-life crisis at a really bad time.

Cudos to J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's loving dad and step-mom as well!

Great script, insightful acting, and directing that understood the story and the characters.

I LOVE Juno, and give it 9 out of 10.

Read Jodie's amazing review here!

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