CityLife

DVD: Juno (12)

95 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy. Starring: Ellen Page, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby.

HIGH school student Juno MacGuff (Page) is dismayed when a pregnancy test comes back positive - the result of a moment of madness with her social misfit best friend Paulie (Cera).

Sharing the news with her shocked pal Leah (Thirlby), Juno nervously tells her parents Mac (Simmons) and Bren (Janney) they are to be grandparents, then softens the emotional blow by revealing she intends to give up the baby to childless couple Mark and Vanessa (Bateman, Garner).

As the plucky teen approaches full term, her hormones go into overdrive, and Juno considers whether Paulie truly is "the cheese to my macaroni". Juno is a perfectly conceived and delivered comedy, expertly scripted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.

Every self-consciously clever line has been polished until it sings, building up an astutely observed portrait of small town social mores.

Laconic

Page is breathtaking as a laconic 16-year-old mother-to-be; refreshingly wise beyond her years yet still believably naive when it comes to romance or the emotional strain of impending motherhood.

Juno wears her heart and her nonchalance on her sleeve, calling a clinic to organise a termination as if she were ordering a takeaway ("Hi, I'm just calling to procure a hasty abortion!").

She kindles a wonderful rapport with Simmons' concerned father and Janney is a hoot as a formidable, protective matriarch who doesn't suffer fools gladly.

Supporting characters are sketched with similar affection, and Garner, Bateman, Cera and co respond with winning, multi-faceted performances. In the words of the eponymous heroine, Jason Reitman's film is "totally boss".

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