Juno

Juno is a 2007 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Elliot Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting her unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney and J. K. Simmons also star. Filming spanned from early February to March 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, receiving a standing ovation. Juno won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director for Reitman, and Best Actress for 20-year old Page (who was presenting as female at the time, and is the sixth-youngest nominee in the category). The film's soundtrack, featuring several songs performed by Kimya Dawson in various guises, was the first chart-topping soundtrack since Dreamgirls and Fox Searchlight's first number-one soundtrack. Juno earned back its initial budget of $6.5 million in twenty days, the first nineteen of which were when the film was in limited release. It went on to earn $231 million worldwide. Juno received acclaim from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top-ten lists for the year. It has received criticism and praise from members of both the anti-abortion and abortion rights communities regarding its treatment of abortion. Plot In Elk River, Minnesota, sixteen year old high-schooler Juno MacGuff discovers she is pregnant by her friend and longtime admirer Paulie Bleeker. She initially considers an abortion. Going to a local clinic run by a women's group, she encounters a schoolmate outside who is holding a one-person anti-abortion vigil. Once inside, Juno decides to give the baby up for adoption instead. With the help of her friend Leah, Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver and finds a childless married couple she feels will provide a suitable home. She tells her father Mac and stepmother Bren, who offer their support. With Mac, Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring, in their expensive Saint Cloud home, and agrees to a closed adoption. Juno visits Mark a few times, and finds they share tastes in punk rock and horror films.