Diablo Cody?

When you read a book, it's easy to understand that it is the author whose responsible for what you see; the author (with some exceptions) created the concept, wrote the book, and advanced his or her own message. In a movie on the other hand, this task becomes decidedly more difficult. With directors, producers, actors, screenplay writers, composers, designers, and editors all working on the same project and contributing their own elements of content and creativity, it it almost impossible to say ultimately which individual's movie it is. That said, after having seen the adorably comedic and uproariously heartfelt Juno this past weekend, I have few doubts that the final product we see is largely due to the clever and touching dialogue of Hollywood-newbie, Diablo Cody.

Before I had seen the film, I will admit I was a little wary. Though nominated as one of the best pictures of the year at the Oscars, I couldn't shake the apprehension I felt at the J.K. Rowling-esque, I-wrote-the-script-on-napkins-while-I-was-working-as-a-stripper, screenplay. And then it happened; Diablo Cody won an Academy Award. So, months later, it finally gets to FLiCKS and I decide to bite the bullet, probably the best decision of the quarter.

The story, at its core, is about the trials and tribulations of teen pregnancy for the title character and the lessons she learns along the way. The great thing about this movie, though, is the daring and fearless topics it addresses. Most obviously, Juno, a sixteen year old girl, gets pregnant, but there are so many more: single parenthood, divorce and remarriage, adultery, minor-adult relationships, et al. However, even beyond its thematic novelty, the messages it sends are also very different from what we see elsewhere. Along the lines of Knocked Up, this seemingly depressing beginning is later revealed to be an incredible gift for Vanessa, the perfect mother who is unable to have children. Along the same lines, what at first we expect to be the wicked step-mother after all the Cinderella paradigms we've encountered, turns out to be a charming and caring, if caustic, supporter who never crosses the line of replacing Juno's mother but who doesn't hesitate to do everything she can to help her; the somewhat rural father you fear is going to throw Juno out of the house instead does his best to protect her; the cheerleader is Juno's best friend; Juno and Beeker, the father of her baby, live happily ever after. Too cutesy, right? Wrong. It is only now, as I right, that it even occurred to me how nicely this all worked out because of the eloquence and candor of the script and the excellence of its delivery.

The almost too witty screenplay, filled with hilariously clever allusions to pop culture, literature, and history, is really allowed to shine because of its wonderful performance. Led by Ellen Page, whose deadpan delivery kept the audience laughing over and over, the cast could not be more perfectly in tune with their roles. From Michael Cera as the honest, speaks-his-mind, adolescent boy to Jennifer Garner as the workaholic mom-to-be to Rainn Wilson in the cameo as the overly nosy shopkeeper, every perfect line is expertly delivered, in a testament to the cast's skill as well as the simultaneous reality of the emotions of the characters and the surrealism that must be incorporated to bring a movie from life to the silver screen.

At the end of the day, maybe Diablo Cody just had a great scheme for being rich, but I don't think so. Her story is so honest and touching, it's simply brimming with the truth of the interesting life this woman must of led and the good she allows herself to see in others. The tender way she handles such brash themes leaves the audience in the pal of her hand, left with no choice but to love her characters and therefore accept her themes: single parenting is possible, and maybe even preferable sometimes; true love happens, even at sixteen; divorce can sometimes lead to a better life; pregnancy is not the end of the world etc., and for that reason, this movie is most definitely the best movie I saw from 2007.