Juno opens up with the single, sexual act that changes her life, as well as the lives of all the other characters involved in the movie, forever. As it turns out, the consequence all teens believe will never happen to them for acting on their sexual desires, happened to her.

Juno is the common high school love story gone awry by an unplanned pregnancy. Juno McGruff (Ellen Page as seen in Hard Candy) is a witty, undaunted sixteen year old who is carrying Paulie Bleeker's (Michael Cera as seen in Superbad) unborn child. Bleeker (as he is known in the movie) is an all-star track member who is completely in love with Juno; so much so, that he actually keeps her panties as a parting gift after their sexual rendezvous. What makes Juno standout from the aisles upon aisles of teenage romance movies is the colorful cast of characters that help bring the story to life. Juno is the unabridged version of what a sixteen year old girl goes through when she realizes she is expecting, with a pinch of fairytale thrown in. I imply that the likelihood of the plot isn't all that believable because, let's face it, in today's day and age, if a sixteen year old girl gets pregnant and manages to not get an abortion, manages to have her family support her, manages to keep the love of her life (who just so happens to be the father of her child), manages to give the baby away to a deserving woman who will truly take good care of it and on top of all of that, manages to go living her life as if nothing ever happened is a bit far-fetched. Still, the movie itself has many redeeming qualities despite this one minor hiccup.

Juno gives abortion a considerable amount of thought and even makes it to the clinic, but in the end, is unable to go through with the procedure. Her only viable option now is to give the baby up for adoption. Juno and her best friend Leah go searching for people who want to adopt via the local PennySaver. In it, they find Vanessa Loring and Mark Loring, a couple who were beautiful "even in black and white." Juno pays them a visit with her father Mac McGruff (J.K. Simmons as seen in Spider-Man) to make sure Juno doesn't get her kid stolen away from her by a bunch of yahoos. This is the meeting where papers are signed and promises are made. This is also where Juno and Mark form a bond through their love for music, causing her to go back to the Loring's house repeatedly throughout the movie.

As Juno's pregnancy progresses and her belly begins to protrude outward, the stress of it all (both physically and emotionally) finally begins to take its toll on her. When she finds out that Bleeker is going to prom with Katrina rather than doing nothing with her, she explodes on him, leaving him speechless. She then unwittingly goes on to visit her crush Mark Loring. Even though she did so with the most innocent of intentions, Mark sees it as an opening to try to leave Vanessa for Juno. This is a clear misunderstanding on his part. When Juno realizes what's going on she storms out of the house, not in anger, but rather in disappointment.

Jason Reitman, the director of the movie, allows us to peer into the world of an adolescent life going down the shitter. Ellen Page's performance throughout the movie is nothing short of spectacular but this is the key scene where emotions are running rampant and hearts are being plucked at, both Juno's and the audience's. We are allowed to see the fearless, intelligent Juno finally breakdown under the immense amount of disappointment. The disappointment of getting pregnant, of letting her family down, of being pregnant, of losing Bleeker (at least in her mind at the time), of being pregnant, of being hit on by a man over twice her age, of being pregnant, of losing her baby's potential parents, and, oh yeah, did I mention the bit about her being pregnant?

Juno comes to the conclusion that all of this can still work and makes a silent resolve to continue on with her plan of allowing Vanessa to adopt the child. She apologizes to Bleeker who takes her back with open arms. Juno delivers the child making Vanessa a proud, new mother. The movie ends with both of them making sweet, sweet music; very similar to how it opened but in this case, I'm talking about actual music.

Another key component as to why Juno is such a good movie is the highly complementary soundtrack. It was as if Jason Reitman directed the movie around the soundtrack; each song, each scene meshing together into a symphony of awesomeness.

Overall, I give Juno a 9/10. It received this score because not only did the casting of the characters, along with the soundtrack, hit a bull's-eye but it also turned the serious subject matter of teen pregnancy/abortion into an inspiring comedy. This movie is definitely one of the DVD's you want to have on your shelf so you can watch it over and over, with or without company.