Juno gets two things dead right about contemporary teenagers: the way irony and sarcasm serve as the basis for their language, and the way those elements are often used to mask the insecurity of adolescence. The most genuinely moving film of 2007, Juno focuses on the pregnant 16-year-old of the title (Ellen Page), a very funny and intentionally odd girl who at first treats her situation as another eye-rolling opportunity. As reality sinks in, though, both she and the film mine deeper, stronger emotions. Page is a marvel – she’s at once her own idiosyncratic whirlwind and exactly like every baffling teenager you’ve ever known – yet the true triumph of Juno is the script from first-timer Diablo Cody. In addition to the emotional layering, Cody offers a treasure trove of one-liners, mostly for Page but also for J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno’s parents; Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner as a prospective adoptive couple; and Michael Cera, doing another variation on his uproariously awkward young man as the bewildered father-to-be.
