.gif)
Juno (film)
Encyclopedia
Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama
film directed by Jason Reitman
and written by Diablo Cody
. Ellen Page
stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera
, Olivia Thirlby, J. K. Simmons
, Allison Janney
, Jennifer Garner
, and Jason Bateman
also star. Filming spanned from early February to March 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia
. The film premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
, receiving a standing ovation.
The film won the Academy Award
for Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Page. The film's soundtrack, featuring several songs performed by Kimya Dawson
in various guises, was the first chart-topping soundtrack since Dreamgirls and 20th Century Fox's first number one soundtrack since Titanic
. 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
. The film went on to earn $231 million.
Juno received numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life
and pro-choice
communities regarding its treatment of abortion.
high-schooler Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page
) discovers she is pregnant with a child fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera
). While she originally intends to have an abortion, she changes her mind and decides to make a plan for the child's adoption. With the help of her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver
and finds a couple she feels will provide a suitable home. She also decides to come clean with her father, Mac (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother, Bren (Allison Janney
), who offer their support. Along with Mac, Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman
and Jennifer Garner
), in their expensive home and expresses a desire for a closed adoption
.
Vanessa, while grateful, is somewhat anxious that Juno may change her mind, and their initial interactions are uneasy. However, Juno and Leah happen to see Vanessa in a shopping mall being completely at ease with a child, and Juno encourages Vanessa to talk to her baby in the womb, where it obligingly kicks for her. On the other hand, Juno more easily forms a friendship with Mark, with whom she shares tastes in punk rock
and horror film
s. Mark, who has set aside his rock band youth (now confined to memorabilia displayed in the one room of the house allowed him by Vanessa), works at home composing commercial jingles. Juno hangs out with Mark a few times when visiting the house, ignoring a warning from Bren that she should not spend time alone with a married man.
As the pregnancy progresses, Juno struggles with the emotions she feels for her baby's father, Paulie, who is clearly—although passively—in love with Juno. Juno maintains an outwardly indifferent attitude toward Paulie, but when she learns he has asked another girl to the upcoming prom, she is hurt and angrily confronts him. Paulie reminds Juno that it is at her request they remain distant and tells her that she broke his heart. He also suggests that she has feelings for him she is unable to admit.
Not long before her baby is due, Juno is again visiting with Mark when their interaction becomes strongly emotional. Mark then tells her that he will be leaving Vanessa. To his surprise, Juno is horrified by this revelation, with Mark asking Juno "how do you think of me", implying that Mark has romantic feelings for teenaged Juno. Vanessa arrives home, and, to her shock, Mark tells her he does not feel ready to be a father and that there are still things he wants to do first—dreams Vanessa does not share. Juno watches the Loring marriage fall apart, then drives away and breaks down in tears by the side of the road before coming to a decision. Returning to the Lorings' home, she leaves a note for Vanessa and disappears as they answer the door.
After a heartfelt discussion with Mac, Juno accepts that she loves Paulie. Juno then tells Paulie that she loves him, and Paulie's actions make it clear that her feelings are very much reciprocated. Not long after, Juno goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital, where she gives birth to a baby boy. She had deliberately not told Paulie because of his track meet. Seeing her missing from the stands, Paulie figures it out and he rushes to the hospital, arriving to find Juno has given birth to their son, and comforts Juno as she cries. Vanessa comes to the hospital where she joyfully claims the newborn boy as a single adoptive mother. On the wall in the baby's new nursery, Vanessa has framed Juno's note—addressed only to her—which reads "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. —Juno." The film ends in the summertime with Juno and Paulie playing guitar and singing together, followed by a kiss.
and Waitress
, two other 2007 films about women facing unplanned pregnancies, Juno was interpreted by some critics as having a pro-life
theme. Ann Hulbert of Slate
magazine believed that Juno "[undercut] both pro-life and pro-choice purism," while Jeff Dawson of The Sunday Times
believed that the film was inevitably placed in the "unwanted pregnancy sub-genre" with Knocked Up and Waitress due to its subject matter, but thought that its interpretation as a pro-life film only "muddied the waters". Hadley Freeman
of The Guardian
criticized Juno for "complet[ing] a hat-trick of American comedies in the past 12 months that present abortion as unreasonable, or even unthinkable—a telling social sign", though she noted, "I don't believe any of these films is consciously designed to be anti-abortion propaganda." A. O. Scott
, writing for The New York Times
, agreed that Juno has "an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood". Ellen Page commented, "What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd... The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that." Cody and Page have openly stated that they are pro-choice
; Reitman thought that it was "fantastic" that both pro-life and pro-choice groups were embracing the film. He said that "Juno seems to be a mirror, and people [on both sides] see themselves in it".
Other critics labeled Juno as feminist because of its portrayal of Juno as a confident and intelligent teenage girl. Antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly
wrote that Junos theme "isn't love, romance, or respect for life, but the triumph of feminist ideology, i.e., the irrelevancy of men, especially fathers". Wesley Morris
of The Boston Globe concluded "Juno serves cool, intelligent girls something they rarely see in a movie: themselves". Cody said about writing the film, "Women are clever, women are funny, women are sharp, and I wanted to show that these girls were human and not the stereotypical teenage girls that we often see in the media" and "There was a lack of authentic teen girl characters ... I saw writing this screenplay as an opportunity to create an iconic female." Page praised the film for its positive depiction of teenage girls, describing Juno's character as "really refreshing and allow[ing] for new possibilities in what young women can be" and "honest but original, completely devoid of stereotype", while also highlighting that "Girls haven't had that sort of character before. We don't have our Catcher in the Rye". She criticized the media perception of her character as a "strong woman", arguing that if Juno were a male character, the "strength" of the character would not be considered remarkable. Reitman was interested in the personal/political conflict for Vanessa's character: "Feminism has paved the way for Vanessa’s career, but ultimately Vanessa wants to be a full time mother."
Diablo Cody
was first approached to write a screenplay by film producer
Mason Novick
, who had previously landed Cody a book deal for her memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
, after discovering her blog about stripping. He persuaded her to adapt the book for the screen, but suggested that she first write a screenwriting sample to show studios, and that sample became Juno. After deciding on an adoption storyline, Cody collected the stories of adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents, including that of her then husband, an adoptee who reunited with his birth parents after she wrote the film. She also found inspiration in the story of a close friend who had become pregnant in high school, and used some details from her friend's experience in the film, such as mistreatment from an ultrasound technician. Much of the film, however, was based on Cody's own high school experiences: she dated a tic-tac
-loving boy similar to Paulie, she was best friends with a cheerleader like Leah, and she used a hamburger phone identical to the one that appears in the film. After writing the screenplay over seven weeks in the Starbucks
section of a Target
store in Crystal, Minnesota
, Cody compared writing to breathing, seeing Juno as an extension of herself.
Novick sent Cody's screenplay to his friend Jason Reitman
; by the time Reitman had read halfway through the script, he felt that if he did not direct the film, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Initially, Reitman found it difficult to acquire the script, because his first film, Thank You for Smoking, had not been released yet, so he did not have any feature film credits. Other directors, including Jon Poll
, were considered, but Reitman was chosen and he interrupted work on his own spec script
in order to direct Juno. Cody says she had a cynical attitude when writing the film ("I didn't ever think this film would be produced"), and, indeed, the film was delayed by financial problems. After its controversial nature scared off a number of major studios, John Malkovich
's production company, Mr. Mudd
, took on the project, and it was later brought to production company Mandate Pictures
by co-producer Jim Miller.
Having previously admired her performance in Hard Candy
, Reitman cast Ellen Page in the lead role, saying that when he read the screenplay for the first time he pictured her as Juno. He visited her on the set of a film on which she was working to offer her the role. He also handed the script to J.K. Simmons, who had featured in his previous film, Thank You for Smoking, not telling him that he intended Simmons to play Mac. Simmons says that after reading the script, he would have been happy to play even the high school teacher who has no speaking lines. Other cast members Reitman had "in mind right from the start" were Olivia Thirlby—who had originally unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Juno—and Michael Cera. He took them with Page and Simmons to a Panavision
stage in California
and shot 45 pages of the script on 35 mm film
against a black backdrop. He presented this footage to Fox Searchlight as the initial cast. He highlighted the importance of doing a screen test instead of individual auditions, saying: "This is a movie that’s all about relationships and the idea of auditioning people outside of each other, one-on-one with the casting director, didn’t make sense."
Jennifer Garner
, who accepted a lower salary than usual to prevent the film from exceeding its budget, was confirmed by Reitman to have signed onto the project in January 2007. After working with Jason Bateman on The Kingdom
, Garner recommended him to Reitman when they first met, and Bateman was cast as Mark, the last cast member to be signed. Lucas McFadden, better known as Cut Chemist
, a DJ
and record producer, makes a cameo appearance as Juno and Paulie's chemistry teacher. McFadden was doing scoring work for Reitman when he received the Juno screenplay and asked McFadden to appear in the film; Reitman thought that it was "perfect irony" for the chemistry teacher to be played by DJ Cut Chemist.
Shooting on a budget of US$
6.5 million, Juno was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia
, standing in for Minnesota
, where production was originally intended to take place. Although films commonly use a Canada-as-America location shift for budgetary reasons, Reitman insists the choice of filming location was instead at his request. Filming locations included a house in nearby White Rock
as Mark and Vanessa's home, Eric Hamber Secondary School
as Dancing Elk High School, and South Surrey
's Athletic Park track as Dancing Elk High School's athletics track.
After minimal rehearsal, filming spanned from early February across to March 2007 on a six-week schedule, of which 30 days were designated to filming. The crew was planning to import snow for the film's winter events, but it snowed on location, and they were able to re-schedule filming to shoot the winter scenes during snowfall, which second assistant director Josy Capkun says resulted in much wider snow shots than originally planned. Although the film was shot out of sequence, the final scene was scheduled for the final day and, after a long period of rain, the crew was intending to shut down production and resume months later to shoot the scene, set in summer. However, the rain stopped and they were able to shoot the scene in the sun. That final scene depicted Juno and Paulie singing The Moldy Peaches
' "Anyone Else but You
", and band member Kimya Dawson
visited the set to speak to Ellen Page and Michael Cera while they were practicing the song.
in her solo, Antsy Pants
and The Moldy Peaches
guises. This was due to a suggestion by lead actress Ellen Page
. Director Jason Reitman explains:
Reitman contacted Dawson, and, after reading the film's screenplay, she agreed for her songs to be used in the film, sending him a packet of CDs containing about 120 songs. The songs were almost entirely self-published by Dawson, who says she wrote nothing specifically for Juno and that all the songs had been performed and recorded before she was contacted to work on the film. Reitman asked her to additionally re-record instrumentals, which included humming over the lyrics of some of her songs. He also contacted composer Mateo Messina
, with whom he had previously worked on Thank You for Smoking, to compose the film's incidental
score
. He gave Messina a collection of Dawson's songs and asked him to create "the sound of the film" through an instrumental score that replicated the recording quality, tone, feel and innocence of her music. Messina decided to implement an "acoustic guitar
feel that was jangled and was really loose, like Juno." Experimenting with different guitars, he ended up using "Stella," a second-hand guitar belonging to guitarist Billy Katz that he described as "kind of tinny, not perfectly in tune, but [it] has all kinds of character." Katz was hired to perform acoustic and classical guitar for the movie's score, using "Stella" extensively throughout.
Page also suggested Cat Power
's cover of the song "Sea of Love
", which Reitman was hesitant to include as it had already been featured in the 1989 film
Sea of Love; however, he decided that its inclusion would mark a "new take" on the film's cinematic references. Initially, Reitman had conceived of Juno being a fan of glam rock
, but rejected it as too inauthentic, and he said he wanted to construct Juno to be "into music very real and authentic", making her a fan of punk rock, including The Runaways
, Patti Smith
and Iggy Pop and the Stooges
. He felt that the Sonic Youth cover of "Superstar
" defined Juno and Mark's relationship—Juno preferring the classic 1971 version by the Carpenters while Mark preferred Sonic Youth's 1994 cover. "A Well Respected Man
" by The Kinks was a song Reitman had associated with a character from another of his screenplays and says it was "heart-breaking" when he decided to include the song as an introduction for Paulie instead, despite feeling it suited the scene perfectly. He found children's
songwriter Barry Louis Polisar
's "All I Want Is You" after "surfing iTunes
for hours on end" using different words and names as search terms and thought that the handmade quality was perfect for the opening titles, which were afterwards made to correspond to the song. The "Brunch Bowlz" jingle, Mark writes in the film, was composed by advertisement writer Chris Corley with whom Reitman had previously worked on a set of commercials for Wal-Mart
.
onto a fake tree outside Juno's house and cherry blossom trees outside Leah's house were touched up in a lighter shade of pink to depict autumn; a fan was used to blow leaves around in some scenes as if the leaves were falling from trees. Fake flowers were used in front of Paulie's house at the end of the film to give the impression of summer. Reitman used different colors to inform character, such as the burgundy and gold Dancing Elk High School track uniforms and an early scene with Juno in a red hooded jacket "walking through a world of somber greens and browns."
Writer Cody was impressed with the production design team's creation of the set from only a few sentences in her script, calling Juno's bedroom "a very emotional set for [me] because it reminded me so much of my own little habitat when I was a teenager." The walls of Juno's room are covered with posters of bands, while Leah's room includes a mural of older men whom she finds attractive, and Paulie's room is designed to be overly childlike to indicate his innocence. Production designer
Steve Saklad designed Mark and Vanessa's house with the assumption that "Vanessa has probably read every home magazine and tried to copy what's in them as best she could." Costume design
er Monique Prudhomme was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild
Award in the "Excellence in Contemporary Costume Design for Film
" category. She dressed Vanessa in clothes that were "simple and very tasteful" but with an "anal-retentive quality," while dressing Mark in conservative clothing that complements Vanessa's taste. It was Page's suggestion that Juno wear flannel shirts and sweater-vests. Page also had to wear two sizes of prosthetic belly fitted like a corset
in the back, as well as a third "real" belly that is seen when Juno has an ultrasound
and a variety of sizes of fake breasts. The footage displayed on Juno's ultrasound monitor is of supervising sound designer Scott Sanders's son Matthew and was embedded into the scene in post-production.
Juno' s opening title sequence
, depicting a rotoscoped Juno walking through her town while drinking a bottle of SunnyD
orange drink, was put together over 7–8 months by a small design studio, Shadowplay Studio, based in Los Angeles
. Reitman had met the studio's co-founder Gareth Smith in Japan on the short film festival circuit where they each had shorts screening. Shadowplay created the opening title sequence for Reitman's previous film, Thank You for Smoking, and he contacted them again when he found out he was going to direct Juno. With vintage 1970s punk-rock posters as inspiration, Smith and artist Jenny Lee decided to create a sequence that "had texture and a little bit of edge, but also imparted the warmth and heart of the screenplay". In the last days of filming in Vancouver, Ellen Page was photographed with a high speed camera
from a number of angles walking on a treadmill and drinking SunnyD. 900 still images of a walking and drinking Page were printed out and repeatedly run through a Xerox machine
to degrade their quality until the pictures appeared hand-drawn. The pictures were cut-out and scanned back onto the computer then layered onto the background drawn by Lee with compositing
software to create a stop motion
animation sequence that corresponded to "All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar, the song Reitman had chosen. Shadowplay also designed the titlecards for each of the seasons for the film, hand-made a custom typeface
for the opening title sequence and the closing credits
, and collaborated on the design of the soundtrack and the DVD.
, Juno premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
and received a standing ovation, which prompted film critic Roger Ebert
to say "I don’t know when I've heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm." It went on to feature at the Austin Film Festival
, Rome Film Festival, London Film Festival
, Bahamas International Film Festival
, St. Louis International Film Festival
, Stockholm International Film Festival
, International Thessaloniki Film Festival, Gijón International Film Festival
, Palm Springs International Film Festival
and the International Film Festival Rotterdam
, earning awards and nominations at several.
Although Juno was originally intended to open in theaters on December 15, 2007, it was moved forward to take advantage of the positive reviews and buzz preceding its release, and opened in limited release
on December 5, playing in only seven theaters in Los Angeles
and New York City. It opened in an additional thirteen cities and around 25 theaters on December 14, expanding further on December 21 before entering wide release
on December 25.
Anthony Breznican of the USA Today
said in a 2008 article that Juno is one of three films that were "orchestrated to start off as word-of-mouth favorites among devoted moviegoers." Following Juno' s release, Fox Searchlight sent hamburger phones styled similarly to that used by Juno in the film to journalists and critics to entice them to review the film. Though the phones were originally distributed in small numbers to viewers at promotional events, companies not affiliated with Fox Searchlight began to produce and sell the phones on eBay
and other online stores. In the month after the film's release, sales of the phone on eBay increased by 759 percent and it was named one of the "10 Cool Gifts for Film Buffs" by Entertainment Weekly
.
and Blu-ray disc on April 15, 2008. It is available in a single disc DVD edition, which includes the movie along with an audio commentary by director Reitman and writer Cody, eleven deleted scenes, a gag reel, a 'gag take' (including a profanity laden blow-up by Rainn Wilson
), a "Cast & Crew Jam", and screen tests. The two-disc DVD edition includes the same extra content and four additional featurettes ("Way Beyond 'Our' Maturity Level: Juno – Leah – Bleeker", "Diablo Cody Is Totally Boss", "Jason Reitman For Shizz", and "Honest To Blog! Creating Juno"), while the second disc is a DRM-encrypted version of the film for portable players. The Blu-ray version includes all the two-disc DVD edition extras and two additional featurettes: "Fox Movie Channel
Presents: Juno World Premiere" and "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session".
and New York City, Juno grossed $420,113 over its debut weekend, averaging $60,016 per screen. When Juno became Fox Searchlight's first film to surpass $100 million at the box office, the company's president Peter Rice issued the statement: "This is an astonishing feat for us and the film has surpassed all our expectations. We knew this film had crossover potential and it has resonated with audiences all across the country." The film has grossed $143,495,265 in the United States and $87,916,319 in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $231,411,584. It was also the highest-grossing of the five Best Picture
nominees for the 80th Academy Awards
.
, 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 197 reviews, making it the best reviewed comedy film on the website in 2007. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews. Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film four stars and called it "just about the best movie of the year. [...] Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so." Ebert went on to place Juno at number one on his annual best of list. The film also ranks at number 463 in Empire
magazine's 2008 list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Juno MacGuff also ranked number 56 on Empire's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
However, not all critics share the positive view towards Juno. David Edelstein
of New York
magazine felt that the film was desperate to be "a movie that confers hipness on teens, that makes kids want to use the same slang and snap up the soundtrack". Music reviewer Jim DeRogatis
criticized the film's stylized dialogue and what he saw as a casual take on abortion and Juno's naïveté in becoming pregnant, claiming: "As an unapologetically old-school feminist, the father of a soon-to-be-teenage daughter, a reporter who regularly talks to actual teens as part of his beat and a plain old moviegoer, I hated, hated, hated this movie."
high school became pregnant, Time
magazine called it the "Juno Effect". Time stated that some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip while others accused films such as Juno and Knocked Up
for glamorizing teenage pregnancy
. Kristelle Miller, an Adolescent Psychology Professor at University of Minnesota-Duluth stated that "[t]he Juno effect' is how media glamorizes pregnancy and how it's also... pregnancy is also redemptive of any past problems".
After Senator John McCain
named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, it was revealed in September 2008 that Gov. Palin's daughter, Bristol, age 17, was pregnant with the child of another teenager. News reports and editorials termed Bristol Palin's pregnancy as the latest episode in the debate over teen pregnancy of which Juno was a part, while Conservative commentators made comparisons between Bristol Palin's pregnancy and the film. Noted New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier
, "The Republicans wanted a new conversation, and they got one. Juno in Juneau
!" Fox News' Roger Friedman wondered, "Juno at once violated and vindicated conservative values. The question is, will the public rally ‘round Bristol Palin the way it did Juno? Or will it reject her for getting in this situation in the first place?"
Juno actor Jason Bateman
defended the film. "Unfortunately," he said, "we’ve had these instances where guys kill people because of what they hear in rock ‘n roll lyrics or some garbage like that. Look, if you’re going to blame a movie or song for your actions, whether they be good or bad, I think you’re looking at the wrong things to influence your life. I think people should look to other areas of their life for lessons and guidance, mainly parents, or teachers, or friends, or whomever. That should probably be where you should point your eyes and ears."
Amy Benfer of Salon.com
wrote in 2010 that, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
, pregnancy rates for all teenagers dropped 2 percent between 2007 and 2008, meaning that "the slight uptick in teen pregnancy rates between 2005 and 2006 were probably just an anomaly and not some heinous trend brought about by pop culture", and that if there had been such a thing as a "Juno effect", it would have caused pregnancies to go down, not up. She criticized proponents of the theory, stating that they believed that teenagers "somehow lose all ability to evaluate any nuance or context in that woman's particular situation, and instead make some sort of primitive cause-and-effect connection" and that "by talking about pregnant girls, and most of all, by daring to portray some of them as ordinary, even likable, we'd get way more babies having babies." She concluded that "depicting teen parents may not glamorize them, so much as humanize them. You know, that thing that happens when one person recognizes that someone else is a person too? So, now that we can firmly state that realistically depicting the lives of the tiny percentage of girls who do become pregnant won't necessarily contaminate the rest of them, it's time to stop worrying and ask what we can do to help."
nominations: Best Original Screenplay, which Diablo Cody won, Best Picture
, Best Director, and Best Actress
for Ellen Page.
Reitman expressed disappointment that Juno was ruled ineligible for the Genie Award
nominations:
Sara Morton, the head of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
, issued a statement explaining that the film had never been submitted for Genie Award consideration by its studio. The Hollywood Reporter
explained that Genie rules define Canadian films as financed at least in part by Canadian sources, and because American companies Mandate Pictures and Fox Searchlight were the sole funders, Juno was ineligible. Nonetheless, Genie spokesman Chris McDowall said that while the film was not evaluated for eligibility since it was not submitted, "Financing is one of the criteria, but it's not everything." Despite this, the film was eligible for the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards
, receiving two wins from three nominations.
' s soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture Juno
, features nineteen songs from Barry Louis Polisar
, Belle & Sebastian
, Buddy Holly
, Cat Power
, The Kinks
, Mott the Hoople
, Sonic Youth
and The Velvet Underground
, and most prominently Kimya Dawson
and her former bands The Moldy Peaches
and Antsy Pants
. Under the Rhino Entertainment
record label, it became the first number one soundtrack since the Dreamgirls
soundtrack, 20th Century Fox
's first number one soundtrack since the Titanic
soundtrack
, and Rhino's first number one album, topping the American Billboard 200
music charts in its fourth week of release.
Rhino announced in March 2008 that Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs would be available through digital-only release, a second volume of songs that were considered for but not included in the film. The fifteen tracks include songs by previously featured artists Kimya Dawson, Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian and Buddy Holly, as well as Astrud Gilberto
, The Bristols, Jr. James & The Late Guitar, Trio Los Panchos, Yo La Tengo
and Ellen Page singing "Zub Zub", written by Diablo Cody as part of the script in a deleted scene. Rhino also released a Deluxe Edition, on November 25, 2008, containing both the original soundtrack as well as B-Sides in a two-disc set, along with storyboards from the film and additional liner notes from Reitman.
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film directed by Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...
and written by Diablo Cody
Diablo Cody
Brook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
. Ellen Page
Ellen Page
Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
, Olivia Thirlby, J. K. Simmons
J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order , Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, on film as J...
, Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
, Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
, and Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
also star. Filming spanned from early February to March 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The film premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, receiving a standing ovation.
The film won the Academy Award
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
for Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Page. The film's soundtrack, featuring several songs performed by Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
in various guises, was the first chart-topping soundtrack since Dreamgirls and 20th Century Fox's first number one soundtrack since Titanic
Titanic (soundtrack)
Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the film of the same name composed, orchestrated and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on November 18, 1997...
. 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
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
. The film went on to earn $231 million.
Juno received numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
and pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
communities regarding its treatment of abortion.
Plot
Sixteen-year-old MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
high-schooler Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page
Ellen Page
Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
) discovers she is pregnant with a child fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
). While she originally intends to have an abortion, she changes her mind and decides to make a plan for the child's adoption. With the help of her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno searches the ads in the Pennysaver
Pennysaver
A pennysaver A pennysaver A pennysaver (or free ads paper, Friday Ad (British English or shopper) is a kind of free community periodical available in North America (typically weekly or monthly publications) that advertises items for sale. Frequently pennysavers are actually called The Pennysaver...
and finds a couple she feels will provide a suitable home. She also decides to come clean with her father, Mac (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother, Bren (Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
), who offer their support. Along with Mac, Juno meets the couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
and Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
), in their expensive home and expresses a desire for a closed adoption
Closed adoption
Closed adoption is the process by where an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent is kept sealed...
.
Vanessa, while grateful, is somewhat anxious that Juno may change her mind, and their initial interactions are uneasy. However, Juno and Leah happen to see Vanessa in a shopping mall being completely at ease with a child, and Juno encourages Vanessa to talk to her baby in the womb, where it obligingly kicks for her. On the other hand, Juno more easily forms a friendship with Mark, with whom she shares tastes in punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s. Mark, who has set aside his rock band youth (now confined to memorabilia displayed in the one room of the house allowed him by Vanessa), works at home composing commercial jingles. Juno hangs out with Mark a few times when visiting the house, ignoring a warning from Bren that she should not spend time alone with a married man.
As the pregnancy progresses, Juno struggles with the emotions she feels for her baby's father, Paulie, who is clearly—although passively—in love with Juno. Juno maintains an outwardly indifferent attitude toward Paulie, but when she learns he has asked another girl to the upcoming prom, she is hurt and angrily confronts him. Paulie reminds Juno that it is at her request they remain distant and tells her that she broke his heart. He also suggests that she has feelings for him she is unable to admit.
Not long before her baby is due, Juno is again visiting with Mark when their interaction becomes strongly emotional. Mark then tells her that he will be leaving Vanessa. To his surprise, Juno is horrified by this revelation, with Mark asking Juno "how do you think of me", implying that Mark has romantic feelings for teenaged Juno. Vanessa arrives home, and, to her shock, Mark tells her he does not feel ready to be a father and that there are still things he wants to do first—dreams Vanessa does not share. Juno watches the Loring marriage fall apart, then drives away and breaks down in tears by the side of the road before coming to a decision. Returning to the Lorings' home, she leaves a note for Vanessa and disappears as they answer the door.
After a heartfelt discussion with Mac, Juno accepts that she loves Paulie. Juno then tells Paulie that she loves him, and Paulie's actions make it clear that her feelings are very much reciprocated. Not long after, Juno goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital, where she gives birth to a baby boy. She had deliberately not told Paulie because of his track meet. Seeing her missing from the stands, Paulie figures it out and he rushes to the hospital, arriving to find Juno has given birth to their son, and comforts Juno as she cries. Vanessa comes to the hospital where she joyfully claims the newborn boy as a single adoptive mother. On the wall in the baby's new nursery, Vanessa has framed Juno's note—addressed only to her—which reads "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. —Juno." The film ends in the summertime with Juno and Paulie playing guitar and singing together, followed by a kiss.
Themes
Along with Knocked UpKnocked Up
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
and Waitress
Waitress (film)
Waitress is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, who also appears in a supporting role. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and went into limited theatrical release in the US on May 2, 2007.-Plot:...
, two other 2007 films about women facing unplanned pregnancies, Juno was interpreted by some critics as having a pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
theme. Ann Hulbert of Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine believed that Juno "[undercut] both pro-life and pro-choice purism," while Jeff Dawson of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
believed that the film was inevitably placed in the "unwanted pregnancy sub-genre" with Knocked Up and Waitress due to its subject matter, but thought that its interpretation as a pro-life film only "muddied the waters". Hadley Freeman
Hadley Freeman
Hadley Freeman is an American journalist formerly based in London, but now living in New York.She was born in New York to Jewish parents, and attended St Anne's College, Oxford University where she read English Literature and edited Cherwell....
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
criticized Juno for "complet[ing] a hat-trick of American comedies in the past 12 months that present abortion as unreasonable, or even unthinkable—a telling social sign", though she noted, "I don't believe any of these films is consciously designed to be anti-abortion propaganda." A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
, writing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, agreed that Juno has "an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood". Ellen Page commented, "What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd... The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that." Cody and Page have openly stated that they are pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
; Reitman thought that it was "fantastic" that both pro-life and pro-choice groups were embracing the film. He said that "Juno seems to be a mirror, and people [on both sides] see themselves in it".
Other critics labeled Juno as feminist because of its portrayal of Juno as a confident and intelligent teenage girl. Antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly is a Constitutional lawyer and an American politically conservative activist and author who founded the Eagle Forum. She is known for her opposition to modern feminism ideas and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment...
wrote that Junos theme "isn't love, romance, or respect for life, but the triumph of feminist ideology, i.e., the irrelevancy of men, especially fathers". Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris is a film critic at The Boston Globe where he reviews films alongside Ty Burr. Morris and Burr also make regular appearances on NECN to discuss the latest films and do the weekly Take Two film review video series on Boston.com...
of The Boston Globe concluded "Juno serves cool, intelligent girls something they rarely see in a movie: themselves". Cody said about writing the film, "Women are clever, women are funny, women are sharp, and I wanted to show that these girls were human and not the stereotypical teenage girls that we often see in the media" and "There was a lack of authentic teen girl characters ... I saw writing this screenplay as an opportunity to create an iconic female." Page praised the film for its positive depiction of teenage girls, describing Juno's character as "really refreshing and allow[ing] for new possibilities in what young women can be" and "honest but original, completely devoid of stereotype", while also highlighting that "Girls haven't had that sort of character before. We don't have our Catcher in the Rye". She criticized the media perception of her character as a "strong woman", arguing that if Juno were a male character, the "strength" of the character would not be considered remarkable. Reitman was interested in the personal/political conflict for Vanessa's character: "Feminism has paved the way for Vanessa’s career, but ultimately Vanessa wants to be a full time mother."
Development
Diablo Cody
Brook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
was first approached to write a screenplay by film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Mason Novick
Mason Novick
Mason Novick is a film producer and talent manager based in Los Angeles, California.-Career:His credits include Red Eye , Juno , Days of Summer and Jennifer's Body...
, who had previously landed Cody a book deal for her memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper is a memoir written by Diablo Cody, who later became known as an Academy Award-winning screenwriter...
, after discovering her blog about stripping. He persuaded her to adapt the book for the screen, but suggested that she first write a screenwriting sample to show studios, and that sample became Juno. After deciding on an adoption storyline, Cody collected the stories of adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents, including that of her then husband, an adoptee who reunited with his birth parents after she wrote the film. She also found inspiration in the story of a close friend who had become pregnant in high school, and used some details from her friend's experience in the film, such as mistreatment from an ultrasound technician. Much of the film, however, was based on Cody's own high school experiences: she dated a tic-tac
Tic Tac (candy)
Tic Tac is a brand of small, hard mints manufactured by the Italian confectioner Ferrero. The individual candy pieces are commonly called Tic Tacs themselves....
-loving boy similar to Paulie, she was best friends with a cheerleader like Leah, and she used a hamburger phone identical to the one that appears in the film. After writing the screenplay over seven weeks in the Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
section of a Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
store in Crystal, Minnesota
Crystal, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,698 people, 9,389 households, and 6,102 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,929.3 people per square mile . There were 9,481 housing units at an average density of 1,641.3 per square mile...
, Cody compared writing to breathing, seeing Juno as an extension of herself.
Novick sent Cody's screenplay to his friend Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...
; by the time Reitman had read halfway through the script, he felt that if he did not direct the film, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Initially, Reitman found it difficult to acquire the script, because his first film, Thank You for Smoking, had not been released yet, so he did not have any feature film credits. Other directors, including Jon Poll
Jon Poll
Jon Poll is an American film director, editor and producer, best known for his directorial debut with the 2007 film Charlie Bartlett.-Career:...
, were considered, but Reitman was chosen and he interrupted work on his own spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
in order to direct Juno. Cody says she had a cynical attitude when writing the film ("I didn't ever think this film would be produced"), and, indeed, the film was delayed by financial problems. After its controversial nature scared off a number of major studios, John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
's production company, Mr. Mudd
Mr. Mudd
Mr. Mudd is a film production company founded by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith.Mr. Mudd currently has a first-look deal with Mandate Pictures. Notable films produced by Mr. Mudd include Juno, Which Way Home, Ghost World, The Dancer Upstairs, Abel, Art School Confidential, How to...
, took on the project, and it was later brought to production company Mandate Pictures
Mandate Pictures
Mandate Pictures was originally an independent film entertainment studio, founded in 2003. Today, Mandate Pictures is a full-service production and financing company, acquired by Lionsgate in 2007. Mandate continues to operate as an independent brand delivering commercial and independent films...
by co-producer Jim Miller.
Casting
Hard Candy (film)
Hard Candy is a 2005 psychological thriller film focusing on the confrontation between an assumed sexual predator and a not-so-innocent 14-year-old girl....
, Reitman cast Ellen Page in the lead role, saying that when he read the screenplay for the first time he pictured her as Juno. He visited her on the set of a film on which she was working to offer her the role. He also handed the script to J.K. Simmons, who had featured in his previous film, Thank You for Smoking, not telling him that he intended Simmons to play Mac. Simmons says that after reading the script, he would have been happy to play even the high school teacher who has no speaking lines. Other cast members Reitman had "in mind right from the start" were Olivia Thirlby—who had originally unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Juno—and Michael Cera. He took them with Page and Simmons to a Panavision
Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...
stage in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and shot 45 pages of the script on 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
against a black backdrop. He presented this footage to Fox Searchlight as the initial cast. He highlighted the importance of doing a screen test instead of individual auditions, saying: "This is a movie that’s all about relationships and the idea of auditioning people outside of each other, one-on-one with the casting director, didn’t make sense."
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
, who accepted a lower salary than usual to prevent the film from exceeding its budget, was confirmed by Reitman to have signed onto the project in January 2007. After working with Jason Bateman on The Kingdom
The Kingdom (film)
The Kingdom is a 2007 film directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, with Kyle Chandler, Jeremy Piven and Ali Suliman....
, Garner recommended him to Reitman when they first met, and Bateman was cast as Mark, the last cast member to be signed. Lucas McFadden, better known as Cut Chemist
Cut Chemist
Lucas MacFadden , better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of the funk Latin band Ozomatli, and of hip hop group Jurassic 5...
, a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and record producer, makes a cameo appearance as Juno and Paulie's chemistry teacher. McFadden was doing scoring work for Reitman when he received the Juno screenplay and asked McFadden to appear in the film; Reitman thought that it was "perfect irony" for the chemistry teacher to be played by DJ Cut Chemist.
Filming
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
6.5 million, Juno was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, standing in for Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where production was originally intended to take place. Although films commonly use a Canada-as-America location shift for budgetary reasons, Reitman insists the choice of filming location was instead at his request. Filming locations included a house in nearby White Rock
White Rock, British Columbia
White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, that lies within the Metro Vancouver regional district. It borders Semiahmoo Bay and is surrounded on three sides by the City of Surrey, British Columbia. To the south lies the Semiahmoo First Nation, which is within the city limits of Surrey...
as Mark and Vanessa's home, Eric Hamber Secondary School
Eric Hamber Secondary School
Eric Hamber Secondary School is a large public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The school is named after Eric Hamber, former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia....
as Dancing Elk High School, and South Surrey
South Surrey
South Surrey is a neighborhood of Surrey, British Columbia. It borders on the city of White Rock, and at 10,535 people, South Surrey has the largest concentration of persons over the age of 60 of all Surrey's town centres...
's Athletic Park track as Dancing Elk High School's athletics track.
After minimal rehearsal, filming spanned from early February across to March 2007 on a six-week schedule, of which 30 days were designated to filming. The crew was planning to import snow for the film's winter events, but it snowed on location, and they were able to re-schedule filming to shoot the winter scenes during snowfall, which second assistant director Josy Capkun says resulted in much wider snow shots than originally planned. Although the film was shot out of sequence, the final scene was scheduled for the final day and, after a long period of rain, the crew was intending to shut down production and resume months later to shoot the scene, set in summer. However, the rain stopped and they were able to shoot the scene in the sun. That final scene depicted Juno and Paulie singing The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches was an indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004...
' "Anyone Else but You
Anyone Else but You
"Anyone Else but You" is a popular song by the indie rock band The Moldy Peaches. The song became popular after being featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 film Juno, as it was used extensively in the climax along with several other songs by Kimya Dawson in the film...
", and band member Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
visited the set to speak to Ellen Page and Michael Cera while they were practicing the song.
Music
The movie features several songs performed by Kimya DawsonKimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
in her solo, Antsy Pants
Antsy Pants
Antsy Pants is an American band featuring Kimya Dawson on lead vocals and Leo Bear Creek on vocals & ukulele. The band contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Juno...
and The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches was an indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004...
guises. This was due to a suggestion by lead actress Ellen Page
Ellen Page
Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
. Director Jason Reitman explains:
"At one point, I asked Ellen Page before we started shooting, ‘[W]hat do you think Juno listens to?’ And she said [‘The Moldy Peaches.'] She went on my computer, played the songs, and I fell in love with it. Diablo and I discussed putting a Moldy Peaches song in it where the characters would sing to each other. I got in touch with Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches[,] and she started sending me her work, which was beautiful, and that became a lot of the soundtrack."
Mateo Messina
Mateo "Matt" Messina is an American soundtrack composer perhaps best known for working on the soundtrack to the 2007 film Juno.-Career and Life:Mateo Messina’s style of songwriting and composition has earned him accolades...
, with whom he had previously worked on Thank You for Smoking, to compose the film's incidental
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
. He gave Messina a collection of Dawson's songs and asked him to create "the sound of the film" through an instrumental score that replicated the recording quality, tone, feel and innocence of her music. Messina decided to implement an "acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
feel that was jangled and was really loose, like Juno." Experimenting with different guitars, he ended up using "Stella," a second-hand guitar belonging to guitarist Billy Katz that he described as "kind of tinny, not perfectly in tune, but [it] has all kinds of character." Katz was hired to perform acoustic and classical guitar for the movie's score, using "Stella" extensively throughout.
Page also suggested Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
's cover of the song "Sea of Love
Sea of Love (song)
"Sea of Love" is a song written by John Phillip Baptiste and George Khoury. Phillips' 1959 recording of the song peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, Marty Wilde covered the song, and Phillips' version failed to chart there...
", which Reitman was hesitant to include as it had already been featured in the 1989 film
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
Sea of Love; however, he decided that its inclusion would mark a "new take" on the film's cinematic references. Initially, Reitman had conceived of Juno being a fan of glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, but rejected it as too inauthentic, and he said he wanted to construct Juno to be "into music very real and authentic", making her a fan of punk rock, including The Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
and Iggy Pop and the Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
. He felt that the Sonic Youth cover of "Superstar
Superstar (Delaney and Bonnie song)
"Superstar" is a 1969 song written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell that has been a hit for many artists in different genres and interpretations in the years since; the best known version is by the Carpenters in 1971.-Original Delaney and Bonnie version:Accounts of the song's origin vary...
" defined Juno and Mark's relationship—Juno preferring the classic 1971 version by the Carpenters while Mark preferred Sonic Youth's 1994 cover. "A Well Respected Man
A Well Respected Man
"A Well Respected Man" is a song by the British band The Kinks, written by the group's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ray Davies, and originally released on the U.K. EP Kwyet Kinks in September 1965 . It was released as a single in the U.S. during October of that same year and reached #13...
" by The Kinks was a song Reitman had associated with a character from another of his screenplays and says it was "heart-breaking" when he decided to include the song as an introduction for Paulie instead, despite feeling it suited the scene perfectly. He found children's
Children's music
Children's music is used here to refer to music composed and performed for children by adults. In European influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment...
songwriter Barry Louis Polisar
Barry Louis Polisar
Barry Louis Polisar is an author and singer-songwriter who writes children's music and numerous children's books, poems and stories.- Works :He has traveled throughout the United States and Europe as a visiting author in schools and libraries...
's "All I Want Is You" after "surfing iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
for hours on end" using different words and names as search terms and thought that the handmade quality was perfect for the opening titles, which were afterwards made to correspond to the song. The "Brunch Bowlz" jingle, Mark writes in the film, was composed by advertisement writer Chris Corley with whom Reitman had previously worked on a set of commercials for Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
.
Design
The film was set out in a sequence of the year's seasons, which, director Jason Reitman explains, "really resonated with me when I read it, because they mirror the three trimesters of Juno's pregnancy." Because filming took place over only 30 days, fake flora was used to give the impression of different seasons while other flora was edited in post-production. Brown leaves were compositedDigital compositing
Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display...
onto a fake tree outside Juno's house and cherry blossom trees outside Leah's house were touched up in a lighter shade of pink to depict autumn; a fan was used to blow leaves around in some scenes as if the leaves were falling from trees. Fake flowers were used in front of Paulie's house at the end of the film to give the impression of summer. Reitman used different colors to inform character, such as the burgundy and gold Dancing Elk High School track uniforms and an early scene with Juno in a red hooded jacket "walking through a world of somber greens and browns."
Writer Cody was impressed with the production design team's creation of the set from only a few sentences in her script, calling Juno's bedroom "a very emotional set for [me] because it reminded me so much of my own little habitat when I was a teenager." The walls of Juno's room are covered with posters of bands, while Leah's room includes a mural of older men whom she finds attractive, and Paulie's room is designed to be overly childlike to indicate his innocence. Production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
Steve Saklad designed Mark and Vanessa's house with the assumption that "Vanessa has probably read every home magazine and tried to copy what's in them as best she could." Costume design
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
er Monique Prudhomme was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild
Costume Designers Guild
The Costume Designers Guild , IATSE LOCAL 892 was founded in 1953 by a group of 30 motion picture costume designers. In 1986, the Costume Designers Guild joined the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and added Local 892 to its name...
Award in the "Excellence in Contemporary Costume Design for Film
Costume Designers Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Contemporary Film
The Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Costume Design for a Contemporary Film was awarded for the first time in 2000, honouring 1999 filmmaking....
" category. She dressed Vanessa in clothes that were "simple and very tasteful" but with an "anal-retentive quality," while dressing Mark in conservative clothing that complements Vanessa's taste. It was Page's suggestion that Juno wear flannel shirts and sweater-vests. Page also had to wear two sizes of prosthetic belly fitted like a corset
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
in the back, as well as a third "real" belly that is seen when Juno has an ultrasound
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
and a variety of sizes of fake breasts. The footage displayed on Juno's ultrasound monitor is of supervising sound designer Scott Sanders's son Matthew and was embedded into the scene in post-production.
Opening title sequence
Opening credits
In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
, depicting a rotoscoped Juno walking through her town while drinking a bottle of SunnyD
SunnyD
Sunny Delight is a popular orange-flavored drink, manufactured until recently by Procter & Gamble. It produced an estimated $450 million in revenue for Procter & Gamble in 2004.-History:...
orange drink, was put together over 7–8 months by a small design studio, Shadowplay Studio, based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Reitman had met the studio's co-founder Gareth Smith in Japan on the short film festival circuit where they each had shorts screening. Shadowplay created the opening title sequence for Reitman's previous film, Thank You for Smoking, and he contacted them again when he found out he was going to direct Juno. With vintage 1970s punk-rock posters as inspiration, Smith and artist Jenny Lee decided to create a sequence that "had texture and a little bit of edge, but also imparted the warmth and heart of the screenplay". In the last days of filming in Vancouver, Ellen Page was photographed with a high speed camera
High speed camera
A high speed camera is a device used for recording fast moving objects as a photographic image onto a storage media. After recording, the images stored on the media can be played back in slow-motion...
from a number of angles walking on a treadmill and drinking SunnyD. 900 still images of a walking and drinking Page were printed out and repeatedly run through a Xerox machine
Photocopier
A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...
to degrade their quality until the pictures appeared hand-drawn. The pictures were cut-out and scanned back onto the computer then layered onto the background drawn by Lee with compositing
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
software to create a stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation sequence that corresponded to "All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar, the song Reitman had chosen. Shadowplay also designed the titlecards for each of the seasons for the film, hand-made a custom typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
for the opening title sequence and the closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
, and collaborated on the design of the soundtrack and the DVD.
Theatrical release
With a well-received preview first screened on September 1, 2007 at the Telluride Film FestivalTelluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
, Juno premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
and received a standing ovation, which prompted film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
to say "I don’t know when I've heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm." It went on to feature at the Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...
, Rome Film Festival, London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
, Bahamas International Film Festival
Bahamas International Film Festival
Bahamas International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in early December in the Bahamas, founded in 2004.The Bahamas International Film Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the local community and international visitors with a diverse presentation of films...
, St. Louis International Film Festival
St. Louis International Film Festival
The St. Louis International Film Festival is an annual film festival in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been running since 1992. The coordinating organization changed its name to "Cinema St. Louis" in 2003...
, Stockholm International Film Festival
Stockholm International Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year in the second half of November...
, International Thessaloniki Film Festival, Gijón International Film Festival
Gijón International Film Festival
Gijón International Film Festival was created in 1963. It was born as an initiative of the local authority and it was sponsored mainly by Gijón City Council and the then Caja de Ahorros de Asturias ; both institutions are still the main organisers of the festival, along with funding from the...
, Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
and the International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
, earning awards and nominations at several.
Although Juno was originally intended to open in theaters on December 15, 2007, it was moved forward to take advantage of the positive reviews and buzz preceding its release, and opened in limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on December 5, playing in only seven theaters in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and New York City. It opened in an additional thirteen cities and around 25 theaters on December 14, expanding further on December 21 before entering wide release
Wide release
Wide release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing nationally . Specifically, a movie is considered to be in wide release when it is on 600 screens or more in the United States and Canada.In the US, films holding an NC-17 rating almost never have a...
on December 25.
Promotion
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said in a 2008 article that Juno is one of three films that were "orchestrated to start off as word-of-mouth favorites among devoted moviegoers." Following Juno
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
and other online stores. In the month after the film's release, sales of the phone on eBay increased by 759 percent and it was named one of the "10 Cool Gifts for Film Buffs" by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
.
Home media
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray disc on April 15, 2008. It is available in a single disc DVD edition, which includes the movie along with an audio commentary by director Reitman and writer Cody, eleven deleted scenes, a gag reel, a 'gag take' (including a profanity laden blow-up by Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
), a "Cast & Crew Jam", and screen tests. The two-disc DVD edition includes the same extra content and four additional featurettes ("Way Beyond 'Our' Maturity Level: Juno – Leah – Bleeker", "Diablo Cody Is Totally Boss", "Jason Reitman For Shizz", and "Honest To Blog! Creating Juno"), while the second disc is a DRM-encrypted version of the film for portable players. The Blu-ray version includes all the two-disc DVD edition extras and two additional featurettes: "Fox Movie Channel
Fox Movie Channel
The Fox Movie Channel is a channel which shows movies uncut and commercial-free.-Overview:Movie content consists mainly of selections from 20th Century Fox's library of releases through the 1990s and movies produced exclusively for television. Widescreen versions are shown whenever available....
Presents: Juno World Premiere" and "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session".
Box office performance
In limited release and playing in only seven theaters in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and New York City, Juno grossed $420,113 over its debut weekend, averaging $60,016 per screen. When Juno became Fox Searchlight's first film to surpass $100 million at the box office, the company's president Peter Rice issued the statement: "This is an astonishing feat for us and the film has surpassed all our expectations. We knew this film had crossover potential and it has resonated with audiences all across the country." The film has grossed $143,495,265 in the United States and $87,916,319 in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $231,411,584. It was also the highest-grossing of the five Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
nominees for the 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
.
Critical reaction
The film benefited from an extremely positive critical reception; as of March 15, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 197 reviews, making it the best reviewed comedy film on the website in 2007. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film four stars and called it "just about the best movie of the year. [...] Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so." Ebert went on to place Juno at number one on his annual best of list. The film also ranks at number 463 in Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine's 2008 list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Juno MacGuff also ranked number 56 on Empire's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
However, not all critics share the positive view towards Juno. David Edelstein
David Edelstein
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York Magazine, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York....
of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine felt that the film was desperate to be "a movie that confers hipness on teens, that makes kids want to use the same slang and snap up the soundtrack". Music reviewer Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
criticized the film's stylized dialogue and what he saw as a casual take on abortion and Juno's naïveté in becoming pregnant, claiming: "As an unapologetically old-school feminist, the father of a soon-to-be-teenage daughter, a reporter who regularly talks to actual teens as part of his beat and a plain old moviegoer, I hated, hated, hated this movie."
"The Juno Effect"
In 2008, after 17 students under sixteen years of age at a Gloucester, MassachusettsGloucester High School (Massachusetts)
Gloucester High School is a public four-year comprehensive secondary school with 1,351 students and 150 faculty and staff. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of the Northeast Alliance of High Schools....
high school became pregnant, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine called it the "Juno Effect". Time stated that some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip while others accused films such as Juno and Knocked Up
Knocked Up
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
for glamorizing teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
. Kristelle Miller, an Adolescent Psychology Professor at University of Minnesota-Duluth stated that "[t]he Juno effect' is how media glamorizes pregnancy and how it's also... pregnancy is also redemptive of any past problems".
After Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, it was revealed in September 2008 that Gov. Palin's daughter, Bristol, age 17, was pregnant with the child of another teenager. News reports and editorials termed Bristol Palin's pregnancy as the latest episode in the debate over teen pregnancy of which Juno was a part, while Conservative commentators made comparisons between Bristol Palin's pregnancy and the film. Noted New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier
Leon Wieseltier
Leon Wieseltier is an American writer, critic, and magazine editor. Since 1983 he has been the literary editor of The New Republic.Wieseltier was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush, Columbia University, Oxford University, and Harvard University, and was a member of...
, "The Republicans wanted a new conversation, and they got one. Juno in Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...
!" Fox News' Roger Friedman wondered, "Juno at once violated and vindicated conservative values. The question is, will the public rally ‘round Bristol Palin the way it did Juno? Or will it reject her for getting in this situation in the first place?"
Juno actor Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
defended the film. "Unfortunately," he said, "we’ve had these instances where guys kill people because of what they hear in rock ‘n roll lyrics or some garbage like that. Look, if you’re going to blame a movie or song for your actions, whether they be good or bad, I think you’re looking at the wrong things to influence your life. I think people should look to other areas of their life for lessons and guidance, mainly parents, or teachers, or friends, or whomever. That should probably be where you should point your eyes and ears."
Amy Benfer of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
wrote in 2010 that, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
, pregnancy rates for all teenagers dropped 2 percent between 2007 and 2008, meaning that "the slight uptick in teen pregnancy rates between 2005 and 2006 were probably just an anomaly and not some heinous trend brought about by pop culture", and that if there had been such a thing as a "Juno effect", it would have caused pregnancies to go down, not up. She criticized proponents of the theory, stating that they believed that teenagers "somehow lose all ability to evaluate any nuance or context in that woman's particular situation, and instead make some sort of primitive cause-and-effect connection" and that "by talking about pregnant girls, and most of all, by daring to portray some of them as ordinary, even likable, we'd get way more babies having babies." She concluded that "depicting teen parents may not glamorize them, so much as humanize them. You know, that thing that happens when one person recognizes that someone else is a person too? So, now that we can firmly state that realistically depicting the lives of the tiny percentage of girls who do become pregnant won't necessarily contaminate the rest of them, it's time to stop worrying and ask what we can do to help."
Top ten lists
The film appeared on critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:- 1st – Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city... - 1st – PastePaste (magazine)Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
magazine staff
- 2nd – USCCB Office for Film and BroadcastingUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and BroadcastingUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting is an office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and is best known for the USCCB film rating, a continuation of the National Legion of Decency rating system begun in 1933 by Archbishop of Cincinnati John T...
(tied with BellaBella (film)Bella is a 2006 film directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde starring Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. Set in New York City, the film is about the events of one day and the impact on the characters' lives.-Plot:...
) - 3rd – David Germain, Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
- 3rd – MoviefoneMoviefoneMoviefone is an American-based movie listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, theatre information, film reviews, or advance tickets...
staff - 4th – James BerardinelliJames BerardinelliJames Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
, ReelViews - 4th – Lou Lumenick, New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
- 4th – Richard RoeperRichard RoeperRichard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
, Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city... - 6th – Claudia Puig, USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
- 6th – Desson ThomsonDesson ThomsonDesson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter in the Obama Administration and a former movie critic for The Washington Post.-Biography:Thomson attended boarding schools in England from the age of 7 until 17. He went to the Abbey School in East Grinstead, Sussex, and the City of London Freemen's School...
, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation... - 6th – Joe MorgensternJoe MorgensternJoe Morgenstern is a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.-Career:Morgenstern graduated from Lehigh University in 1953. His first journalism experience was as news clerk at the New York Times...
, The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal.... - 6th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and MailThe Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
- 6th – Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle
- 7th – Corina Chocano, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- 7th – Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
- 10th – A. O. ScottA. O. ScottAnthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(tied with Knocked UpKnocked UpKnocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
and Superbad) - 10th – Peter TraversPeter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
, Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
(tied with Knocked UpKnocked UpKnocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
) - 10th – Stephen HoldenStephen HoldenStephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Awards
The film received four 2008 Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations: Best Original Screenplay, which Diablo Cody won, Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Director, and Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Ellen Page.
Reitman expressed disappointment that Juno was ruled ineligible for the Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
nominations:
Sara Morton, the head of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals...
, issued a statement explaining that the film had never been submitted for Genie Award consideration by its studio. The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
explained that Genie rules define Canadian films as financed at least in part by Canadian sources, and because American companies Mandate Pictures and Fox Searchlight were the sole funders, Juno was ineligible. Nonetheless, Genie spokesman Chris McDowall said that while the film was not evaluated for eligibility since it was not submitted, "Financing is one of the criteria, but it's not everything." Despite this, the film was eligible for the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards
Canadian Comedy Awards
The Canadian Comedy Awards, founded by , are an annual awards ceremony celebrating notable English speaking Canadian comedians for achievements in Live, Radio, Film, Television and Internet media over the previous year...
, receiving two wins from three nominations.
Wins
- 80th Academy Awards80th Academy AwardsThe 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
- Best Original ScreenplayAcademy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. Before 1940, there was an Academy Award for Best Story for writing. For 1940, it and the award in this article were separated into two awards. Beginning with the...
– Diablo CodyDiablo CodyBrook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
- Best Original Screenplay
- BAFTAs
- Best Original ScreenplayBAFTA Award for Best Original ScreenplayThe BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is the British Academy Film Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. It has been awarded since 1984, when the original category was split into two awards, the other being the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted...
- Best Original Screenplay
- Critic's Choice AwardsBroadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2007The 13th Critics' Choice Awards were given on 7 January 2008 to honor the finest achievements in 2007 filmmaking.-Winners and nominees:The nominees in each of the 18 categories are listed below :-Best Actor:...
- Best Comedy
- Canadian Comedy AwardsCanadian Comedy AwardsThe Canadian Comedy Awards, founded by , are an annual awards ceremony celebrating notable English speaking Canadian comedians for achievements in Live, Radio, Film, Television and Internet media over the previous year...
(2008)- Best Actress – Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
- Best Director – Jason ReitmanJason ReitmanJason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...
- Best Actress – Ellen Page
- National Board of Review
- Best Breakthrough Performance – Female (Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
) - Best Original Screenplay (Diablo CodyDiablo CodyBrook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
)
- Best Breakthrough Performance – Female (Ellen Page
- Satellite AwardsSatellite AwardsThe Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...
- Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
) - Best Film – Musical or Comedy
- Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (Ellen Page
- Rome Film Festival
- Best Film
- Writers Guild of America Awards
- Best Original ScreenplayWriters Guild of America Award for Best Original ScreenplayThe Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award....
(Diablo CodyDiablo CodyBrook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
)
- Best Original Screenplay
- Independent Spirit Awards 2007Independent Spirit Awards 2007The Independent Spirit Awards 2007 announced its nominees in November 2007. The ceremony was broadcast live on Independent Film Channel on February 23, 2008 and hosted by actor Rainn Wilson...
- Best Feature
- Best Female Lead – Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
- Best First ScreenplayIndependent Spirit Award for Best First ScreenplayThe Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers.-1990s:1994*David O...
– Diablo CodyDiablo CodyBrook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
- The National Movie AwardsNational Movie AwardsThe National Movie Awards is a British movie awards ceremony broadcast by ITV in which the winners of the awards are chosen via popular vote. The awards were initiated in 2007 following the success of the National Television Awards, the highest-rating awards ceremony for television...
2008- Best Comedy
Nominations
- 80th Academy Awards80th Academy AwardsThe 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(Lost to No Country for Old MenNo Country for Old Men (film)No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
) - Best Director – Jason ReitmanJason ReitmanJason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...
(Lost to Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men) - Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
– Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
(Lost to Marion CotillardMarion CotillardMarion Cotillard is a French actress and singer. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as La Vie en Rose, My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants...
for La Vie en RoseLa Vie en rose (film)La Vie En Rose is a 2007 French biographical film about the life of French chanteuse Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song...
)
- Best Picture
- 65th Golden Globe Awards65th Golden Globe AwardsThe 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
- Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Lost to Sweeney Todd)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
) (Lost to Marion CotillardMarion CotillardMarion Cotillard is a French actress and singer. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as La Vie en Rose, My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants...
) - Best Screenplay – Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayThe Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
(Diablo CodyDiablo CodyBrook Busey , better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, writer, blogger, journalist, and author. She was first known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her Pussy Ranch blog and her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper...
) (Lost to The Coen BrothersCoen BrothersJoel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
)
- 61st British Academy Film Awards61st British Academy Film AwardsThe 61st British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts took place on 10 February 2008, and honoured the best films of 2007.Joe Wright's Atonement won the award for Best Film...
- Best Leading ActressBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBest Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
– Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
(Lost to Marion CotillardMarion CotillardMarion Cotillard is a French actress and singer. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as La Vie en Rose, My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants...
)
- Best Leading Actress
- 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards
- Best Actor – Michael CeraMichael CeraMichael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
; Cera received two nominations and did win the award, but for his work in Superbad.
- Best Actor – Michael Cera
- Critic's Choice Awards
- Best Actress – Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
(Lost to Julie ChristieJulie ChristieJulie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
) - Best Acting Ensemble – Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
, Michael CeraMichael CeraMichael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
, J. K. SimmonsJ. K. SimmonsJonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order , Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, on film as J...
, Olivia Thirlby, Allison JanneyAllison JanneyAllison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
, Jennifer GarnerJennifer GarnerJennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
, and Jason BatemanJason BatemanJason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
(Lost to HairsprayHairspray (2007 film)Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...
)
- Best Actress – Ellen Page
- 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards14th Screen Actors Guild Awards----Best Cast - Motion Picture: No Country For Old Men ----Best Cast - Drama Series: The Sopranos Best Cast - Comedy Series: The Office ...
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
(Lost to Julie ChristieJulie ChristieJulie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Ellen Page
- Independent Spirit Awards 2007Independent Spirit Awards 2007The Independent Spirit Awards 2007 announced its nominees in November 2007. The ceremony was broadcast live on Independent Film Channel on February 23, 2008 and hosted by actor Rainn Wilson...
- Best Director – Jason ReitmanJason ReitmanJason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...
(Lost to Julian SchnabelJulian SchnabelJulian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
)
- Best Director – Jason Reitman
- Online Film Critics Society Award
- Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer GarnerJennifer GarnerJennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
(Lost to Amy RyanAmy RyanAmy Ryan is an American actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Gone Baby Gone and is also known for her roles in the HBO series The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell; In Treatment, playing psychiatrist Adele Brousse; and The...
)
- Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Garner
Soundtrack
JunoJuno (soundtrack)
Music from the Motion Picture Juno, released on January 8, 2008, is the soundtrack that accompanies the Academy Award-winning film Juno.-Background:...
, features nineteen songs from Barry Louis Polisar
Barry Louis Polisar
Barry Louis Polisar is an author and singer-songwriter who writes children's music and numerous children's books, poems and stories.- Works :He has traveled throughout the United States and Europe as a visiting author in schools and libraries...
, Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
, Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, and most prominently Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
and her former bands The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches was an indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004...
and Antsy Pants
Antsy Pants
Antsy Pants is an American band featuring Kimya Dawson on lead vocals and Leo Bear Creek on vocals & ukulele. The band contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Juno...
. Under the Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
record label, it became the first number one soundtrack since the Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...
soundtrack, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
's first number one soundtrack since the Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
soundtrack
Titanic (soundtrack)
Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the film of the same name composed, orchestrated and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on November 18, 1997...
, and Rhino's first number one album, topping the American Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
music charts in its fourth week of release.
Rhino announced in March 2008 that Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs would be available through digital-only release, a second volume of songs that were considered for but not included in the film. The fifteen tracks include songs by previously featured artists Kimya Dawson, Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian and Buddy Holly, as well as Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
, The Bristols, Jr. James & The Late Guitar, Trio Los Panchos, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
and Ellen Page singing "Zub Zub", written by Diablo Cody as part of the script in a deleted scene. Rhino also released a Deluxe Edition, on November 25, 2008, containing both the original soundtrack as well as B-Sides in a two-disc set, along with storyboards from the film and additional liner notes from Reitman.