Juno

Juno arrives on our screens with some sense of expectation and much Oscar-hype. It's the latest in what is becoming its own sub-genre - the unwanted pregnancy sub-genre - following Waitress and Knocked-up and it might well be the best of the lot of them. It maybe is not quite as laugh out loud funny as Knocked-up, but its humour is smarter and ultimately, as a film, it hangs together a bit better and is more moving.

The script, by the oscar nominated delightfully named newcomer Diablo Cody, is smart and witty (if at times a bit too smart and witty to be totally believable for teenagers) - I mean would even smart American teenagers still use Diana Ross as a reference point? Ultimately this doesn't matter a whole lot - despite the High School setting, one suspects the film is ultimately aimed at a slightly older audience and the scripts ultimate purpose is to entertain and amuse, which it does brilliantly.

There's a great, quirky soundtrack - again possibly appealling to a slightly older audience. Director Jason Reitman's last film, Thankyou for Smoking, was highly entertaining whilst neatly side-stepping actually having a stance on the issue - so much so that both right and left claimed it as their own. Here, he tackles teenage pregnancy and again, effectively sidesteps dealing with the abortion issue.

Ellen Page is great in the title-role as the knocked-up teen, managing to suggest the deeper issues behind the front of witty self-assurance. Her performance should come as no surprise to those who saw her, possibly even better, one in Hard Candy. But the cast as a whole work well - Superbad's Michael Cera gives us another slightly wimpy nice guy (who, as far as I remember school, only get the girl in movies). The West Wing's Allison Janney and Spiderman's JK Simmonds are as solid as you might expect as Juno's parents. Jason Bateman is charming enough with a slightly creepy edge as the potential adoptive father. However, despite the plaudits for Page, the real star turn here is Jennifer Garner as the adoptive mother - conveying the heart and fragile desperation just below the surface of her character.

In the last third the movie moves into slightly darker territory as Juno realises that all is not as easy or perfect as she imagined it, but finishes in a place that, bare of the smart wit, is actually genuinely tender and affecting.

Overall - 4/5 Alternatively funny and moving - despite the teen setting, this is a smart comedy for an adult audience and, in Page and Cody, announces the arrival of two very promising new talents.