And Cody doesn't hold back. She delivers a teen comedy that's smart, funny and thoroughly winning. One of the biggest surprises is the close relationship Juno has with her parents.
Bren: "First things first, we have to get you healthy, you need some of those prenatal vitamins."
Mac: "Juno, I'm coming with you to meet this adoption couple, you're just a kid and I don't want you to get ripped off by some baby starved wingnuts."
For once, we get parents who genuinely love their child and who respect her decisions. They can also joke with her but without trying to be like a hip contemporary.
Mac: "Are you having boy trouble? Cause I don't approve of you dating in your condition that's messed up."
Thundercats are go! (Fox Searchlight)
They remain concerned and Juno accepts accept their concern as love and not as prying into her life.
DIABLO CODY: "I feel like the idea of a contentious relationship between teenagers and parents had become a clich. I liked the idea of exploring a positive relationship especially between Juno and her stepmother because that's something we definitely don't see."
Another thing we don't often see is a strong young female character. Juno's no role model but she's bright, has a wry sense of humor and is confident about who she is. Plus she never allows herself to be a victim. She takes full responsibility for her actions.
Juno: "Sorry I had sex with you I know it wasn't your idea."
Paulie: "Then whose idea was it."
Juno: "See you at school."
Theres no self-pity here says Diablo Cody.
DIABLO CODY: "I really didn't want there to be any victimhood or melodrama. I wanted this to be an uplifting, clear-eyed look at how people deal with crisis."
Juno: "I'm already pregnant so what other kind of shenanigans can I get into."
Juno, played by Ellen Page, is a sharply written character. She can be very mature and self aware as when dealing with the adoption:
Vanessa: "Are you looking for other compensation?"
Juno: "No I don't want to sell it. I just want the baby to be with people who will love it and be good parents. I'm in high school I'm ill-equipped."
But Cody never forgets that Juno's still just a kid. So at the hospital Juno and her friend play with wheelchairs in the hallway. Juno can also be unintentionally callous as when talking with Vanessa, the adoptive mother who's been trying to get pregnant for years.
Vanessa: "Pregnancy is beautiful."
Juno: "Lucky it's not happening to you."
Cody says Vanessa starts out as a kind of Barbie doll that's often the butt of jokes.
DIABLO CODY: "The character of Vanessa, the Jennifer Garner character, was probably the hardest character for me to write. I did want people to see her as this uptight yuppie nightmare. And the trick was trying to make her seem sympathetic near the end which I feel like Jennifer Garner's performance is what did that. I feel that she is so vulnerable and so likable in that role that you just can't help but side with her."
The same could be said of the film. Cody and director Jason Reitman deliver something funny, irreverent, surprisingly sincere and at times even heartfelt.
DIABLO CODY: "So the fact that people frequently cry at the end is to me a triumph."
Juno is a film you can fall in love with. Underneath its prickly humor lies a sweet compassionate soul.
Be listening this Wednesday to These Days when Juno is one of the new films up for discussion on the KPBS Film Club of the Air.
