Juno

Teenage pregnancy has never seemed so...adorable? A quirky teen has quirky sex with her quirky best guy friend and now has the quirky situation of being pregnant. She finds the "perfect" couple to adopt, a white-bread suburban duo, but when their cracks start to show, her no-brainer decision becomes more complex. A talky, ultimately winning look at the complications and convictions that arise when family dynamics get put to the test.

Review in a Hurry:  Teenage pregnancy has never seemed so...adorable? A talky but ultimately winning look at the complications and convictions that arise when family dynamics get put to the test.

The Bigger Picture:  Juno (Ellen Page) is a quirky teen who has quirky sex with her quirky best guy friend Bleeker (Michael Cera) and now has the quirky situation of being pregnant with his child. Yes, it's a veritable festival of quirk.

Not so quirky is the "perfect" couple Juno has found to adopt the kid, Vanessa and Mark (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), a white-bread suburban duo suffering from a case of affluenza. When their cracks start to show, Juno's no-brainer decision becomes a lot more complicated.

Diablo Cody's swift, engaging and laugh-out-loud funny script only has the whole quirk thing bringing it down. The slangy Gilmore Girls-y dialogue hits hard from the very beginning. And while Page, Cera and Olivia Thirlby (as Juno's best friend) are all able young actors, they come off a little too woodenly cute. Juno often sounds more like a stand-up comic than a teenage girl, but it's a testament to Page's talent that she forges through the preciousness and eventually sells Juno as the real deal—a vulnerable kid with a sharp tongue and big heart.

Escaping the quirkosity of it all are J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's father and stepmother. They dive into their roles with verve and wit, and their realistic reaction to Juno's big mistake is seasoned with take-no-crap humor. How refreshing it is to see a portrait of a normal, working-class family working through various challenges with common sense instead of operatic drama.

Like any young prodigy, Juno has great promise at the box office. It could be this year's Little Miss Sunshine, another funny, poignant and sincere take on family life served up with a raw indie sensibility.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  The breezy, offhand humor of the script occasionally makes teenage pregnancy seem like not such a big deal—but it is, right? No need to get all After School Special, but a little more insight into why a supersmart kid like Juno wouldn't protect herself during "relations" with Bleeker would have added further dimension to this feel-good flick.