Going to the movies: Juno

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Jan 21st 2008 9:01AM

Categories: Pregnancy & Birth, Adoption, That's Entertainment

The movie Rachel and I saw last weekend was a little-known film called Juno. It tells the tale of Juno, a quirky teenager who decides to have sex with her best friend instead of watching the Blair Witch Project on TV and winds up pregnant. The majority of the movie covers her pregnancy, including her decision to put the child up for adoption, the selection of the perfect parents from an ad in the Penny Saver, and her interaction with them and her peers.

Typically, I like simple, black-and-white, films without any deep philosophical meaning or questions. I get enough in the real world; I go to movies to escape that. While this was a very funny movie, it certainly wasn't Weekend at Bernie's. It raised a lot of issues about pregnancy and parenting; Rachel and I are still discussing it.

One of the things Rachel liked about the film was that it didn't go overboard on the whole pregnancy-symptoms cliche. All I remember is Juno throwing up once and expressing a desire for an odd combination of foods at the mall -- something I wouldn't be surprised to hear any teenager order, though.

I did think the scene where Juno spots Vanessa, the woman planning to adopt her child, playing with a friend's daughter at the mall and watches her, realizing that she will be a great mom. The two then run into each other and have a great scene where Vanessa feels the baby kicking in Juno's stomach.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable film with some excellent acting (especially by Juno's parents), a good soundtrack, and an engaging story. I think it was a good choice, especially given Rachel's current condition. If you get a chance, check it out and let me know what you think.

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Comments (17)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

lydi 1-26-2008 @ 2:13AM

I think *ame s* has a verry valid point. when my son was born i never considerd adoption even for a mint, becase of me family. and for the same reason, when i suguested to my then boyfriend-now ex husband, to simply walk away, he wouldnt hear of it.(although he did express suport of any other choice i made excluding abortion) if my family let me give him up, i'm sure his paternal grandmother whold have done the adopting. with no qualms at all, her youngest(from her 3rd marage) being 2 at the time.

Shannon 2-20-2008 @ 2:43PM

Hi! Thanks for the shout-out, Jenna. That's my review. I have to say that I agree with folks who say they'd look first to an in-family adoption if I or my daughters had a crisis pregnancy.

I have an open adoption with each of my children's mothers, and we try to build family with them. But my strong feeling is that if one of my girls came home pregnant and wanted to carry and give birth to the baby, I'd very much want to adopt it myself if need be, rather than have someone outside the family adopt.

I realize there are situations when this just isn't possible (as with my girls' biological families). But that would be my preference.

Kristine 1-21-2008 @ 9:31AM

As an adoptive mom in an oped domestic adoption, I really liked this film. At one point I did worry that it showed Vanessa being too neurotic about the house, nursery, etc... But after re-thinking it I truly can relate with Vanessa. I know when we were going thru the process of getting to know our daughters birthmother and birthfather, I wanted everything to be perfect too so that I could make a good impression, and be sure that they truly liked us and thought we would be the perfect parents for their little girl. The three parts of the movie that really choked me up were when Vanessa and Juno ran into eachother at the mall, and Vanessa felt the baby moving in Juno's belly, when Juno and Bleeker were laying in the bed together in the hospital room and Juno was crying and when Vanessa sees the baby for the first time and holds him realizing the miraculious decision that Juno made to give her the gift of being a mother.

roger.sinasohn 1-21-2008 @ 10:02AM

I've never been an adoptive mom, but given how much Vanessa wanted a child and that they had apparently been through an adoption before that fell through, I can understand her wanting to make the best impression possible. And that, I think, is why seeing her at the mall playing with the other kid in the play area was perhaps so important -- it showed that she's not all uptight white-collar-and-cuffs, but could be a real mom that will run around and get down on the ground and all.

aprilw 1-21-2008 @ 11:19AM

Is it really little known? I'm surprised if it is because I have been reading about it for months everywhere from entertainment sites, to women's issues sites, I've even read about it on Parenting sites! I've also heard people talking about it in real life. ;)

I'm not trying to pick at you at all, I'm just really surprised. Maybe it is just talked about a lot in the areas I frequent.

I haven't seen it by the way, just heard TONS about it.

roger.sinasohn 1-21-2008 @ 12:24PM

Okay, I guess I'm pretty out of touch with Hollywood. I hadn't heard of it until I saw it listed at the theatre. I certainly didn't mean to malign the film; I just hadn't heard anything about it.

aprilw 1-21-2008 @ 1:01PM

Roger, I didn't think you were maligning the film :). I honestly thought maybe I was a little out of touch with what the reality in the US is! I had heard a lot of buzz about it, but again, thought it was maybe just the kind of things I read.

Anyway, again, I hope I didn't come across as "getting at you". I seriously was curious about it. I live in the UK and it has not been released here yet so I thought maybe I had some kind of weird skewed view. :)

ame s 1-21-2008 @ 11:37AM

I haven't seen the movie yet, but the story line makes me ask a question of myself. Could I "live" with my teen-age daughter's decision to put my grandchild up for adoption?
I'll turn 40 this year and my daughters are 8 and 10. I had planned on another baby or 2, but my late-husband was diagnosed w cancer before my younger turned 1. We lost him almost 5 years ago.
New hubby is 48, and not keen on the idea of a newborn at his age.
I think I would ask either of my daughter's to allow me to adopt their baby.

Kristine 1-21-2008 @ 11:35AM

I was suprised that it was refered to as "little known" as well. I have seen commercials about it everywhere, the actresses were on some major talk shows, etc...

Nicole 1-21-2008 @ 11:44AM

I agree, April. This movie might have been little known a few months ago, but with its early releases in Chicago and other metro areas, it quickly has grown to be talked about a lot on television, the web, and in the entertainment industry in general.

But, I understand why. It is a fantastic movie! My husband and I both really liked it, the music soundtrack is quirky and fun, the plot lines and characters are believable and likeable in their oddness. Also, I think that most people are drawn to stories of teen pregnancy that transcend the stereotypes and make such situations what they're truly about: people in unique situations make unique decisions that hold both hope and hurt in a tenuous balance. I love that this movie is neither preachy nor sanctimonious in any way.

Mel 1-21-2008 @ 11:41AM

I agree that this movie is not little-known - it's grossed 90 million to date! On an 8 million budget! It seems indie, but it's not.

Gabby 1-21-2008 @ 12:05PM

Umm, when Roger said "little known film" I took it as sarcasm, and actually laughed out loud. A few of my friends and I tried to go see the movie a couple weeks ago, but it was sold out. Since I get to go to the movies maybe twice a year, it looks like I'll be waiting for it to come out on video.

roger.sinasohn 1-21-2008 @ 1:11PM

Sadly, I wasn't being sarcastic this time around. I'm just that out of touch with what's playing. I think I need to get out more.

On the up side, there were only a dozen or so people in the theatre when we saw it, so you might have better luck now.

Jen Henry 1-21-2008 @ 1:38PM

It's ok Roger. I'm afraid I hadn't heard of it either. We live in the Adirondack Mountains and I'm afraid there's been no advertising for it all here. I don't think it's even in theatres here.

http://furoreandfrenzy.blogspot.com

Jenna 1-21-2008 @ 7:07PM

If you'd like an alternate version of what an adoptive mom has to say about this POS movie, read this:

http://lilysea.blogs.com/peterscrossstation/2008/01/more-on-juno-wi.html

aprilw 1-22-2008 @ 5:26AM

Jenna - there are quite a few commentators out there that have problems with this movie.

As I said, I haven't seen it as it is not out here in the UK yet, but from what I have seen there are a lot of people out there who have problems with it for various reasons.

Spring 1-22-2008 @ 10:55AM

Thanks for that link Jenna, I had many of the same issues with Juno.

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