Juno is not to be confused with 2005's Junebug, though some plot points might be similar. Actually, Juno is one of the better reviewed films of the year, having recently been named The #1 Best by influential critic Roger Ebert, and having recently snagged a bevy of awards for young actress Ellen Page, screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman. Watching Juno you certainly understand the critics' adoration--it is a hard-biting movie that still manages to have a sweet milk and cookies inside.

The film follows high school junior Juno MacGuff, a proverbially bored child, and one that is internally motivated by boredom--which explains her decision to have sex with her friend Bleeker (only slightly sexier than the muppet baby Beeker). The one time encounter results in a pregnancy. In a moment's time, she goes from the abortion clinic back home, only slightly guilted, but enough to decide that having the baby is the kind thing to do. (If not the "right" thing to do, since Juno is not one to moralize but more to mock the overly righteous in a nihilistic, angsty vent) Juno and her friend Leah decide on a whim to find prospective parents out of a newspaper ad, and soon settle on the too-perfect couple Mark and Vanessa. (Played by Justine Bateman and Jennifer Garner) Along the way Juno must confess her dilemma to her stunned parents and cope with emotions and decisions that are far beyond her comprehension--even for a smart-ass artsy girl a few years ahead of her time.

What's amazing about Juno is that it is a pro-life movie at its very core, even if it hides behind the "woman's choice" factor. To tell a story about a teen mother totally unqualified for parenthood to a fiercely liberal Hollywood industry, and not too many years after the definitive pro-choice movie The Cider House Rules was released, is amazingly audacious. (And far more shocking than any number of heads sliced up in Sweeney Todd) However, Juno doesn't feel like a message movie. It manages to be real, even if a bit hormonally manipulative and sappy, in that bratty teenage girl sort of way.

What I like most about Juno is that neither the movie nor the protagonist, claim to have any real insight as to what this situation means politically or moralistically. Juno is superficially smart, cutting others down as wittily and joyously as the Daria of the 1990's ever did. In fact, the beginning moments of Juno recall to mind Daria's pessimistic but ebullient spirit, not only for the nippy vocal mannerisms and comparably skewered perspectives, but also for the film's cynical soundtrack. The songs that play throughout the movie are not to manipulate any reaction but to remind us that all of this is happening according to the perspective the life of a teenage girl who--beyond all of her sharp insight into rock and roll history--is really not all that smart. Yet somehow, Juno's maturity level is ages beyond that of her elders.

Performances in the film are flawless, particularly by Ellen Paige (who will score a well-deserved Oscar nod this year) and Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. Juno's relationship with both prospective-parents is the key element as to why this film works. Sometimes in life what we don't understand is what turns out to be the most real, and what seems all too perfect is more than we ever anticipated. But whatever! Juno is one of the best films of the year. It may well be the only Best Picture contender this year that has a heart--still beating vibrantly and not ripped out of the chest in an effort to make a point about humanity. Grade: A