Teen pregnancy is an unlikely central conceit for a comedy, but Juno makes it work and, more surpsingly, makes it endearingly humorous.  Quirky, charming, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, the film is less about Social Problems and more focused on how unusual characters react to the unusual circumstances that shape everyday life.  Of course, it helps that Juno has a host of talent pushing it forward: Ellen Page and Michael Cera give strong performances as oddball highschoolers without ever pandering to maudlin acting tricks, Diablo Cody’s script sparkles with ringing wit, and director Jason Reitman avoids melodrama even at the cost of pulling on the audience’s heartstrings.  Poised to be 2007’s Little Miss Sunshine, Juno never poses as too hip for it’s own good or becomes overly sentimental.  Best of all, it ends the way you would want it to end, not the way suits in boardrooms think we want things to end.  There are laughs here for the taking and characters I didn’t mind spending over an hour with…and I don’t say that about many films.

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