On the other hand, Juno is one of the year’s festival pleasures. The film almost came out of nowhere - almost, but not quite. After premiering last week at Telluride, Juno rode a wave of positive buzz to Toronto. The marketers were out in full force, giving away boxes of orange Tic-Tacs (if you see the movie, you’ll understand). The result (of the buzz more than the breath mints) were packed press and public screenings. And, unlike some festival films, this one should have enough widespread appeal to take it into multiplexes when Fox Searchlight releases it.

If one was to categorize this, it would fall into the hybrid coming-of-age/teen romantic comedy category. But, as movies like Superbad have shown, such labels aren’t necessarily negatives. Juno, directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) is smart, witty, and engaging - three ingredients that, when applied to any film, comprise a recipe for success. Juno has a great heroine and is blessed by a screenplay that doesn’t try to do too much and finds the perfect ending.

Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is sixteen years old and pregnant. She takes three home pregnancy tests to be sure, but the results can’t be denied. Her boyfriend, Paulie (Michael Cera), is as befuddled by the news as she is. After all, they only did it once, although that’s obviously enough. (And, to his credit, he doesn’t do the most insensitive thing imaginable and ask if she’s sure he’s the father.) At first, Juno considers an abortion, but she doesn’t like the vibe she gets at the clinic. So, after revealing the truth to her supportive father (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother (Allison Janney), she goes to the “Desperately Seeking Spawn” section of the penny saver to try to find a good Mommy and Daddy for her unborn child. “Someone is going to get a blessing out of this garbage dump of a situation.” Enter Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason Bateman), Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful. They’re ready to adopt - or at least Vanessa is. Mark, on the other hand, seems more interested in watching old horror movies and discussing music with the prospective mother of his future child.

Juno isn’t one of those “laugh riots” that will have audience members rolling in the aisles, getting fake popcorn butter and spilled soda all over their clothing. Instead, it’s funny in a sassy way - the kind of humor that causes a lot of smiles and chuckles to go along with the occasional stomach-jiggling laugh. The script is polished to near perfection. Almost everything that Juno says is worth listening to, whether it’s dialogue that comes out of her mouth or her thoughts expressed in a voiceover narrative.

While plenty of credit can be heaped upon director Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, the lead actress deserves as much praise as either of them. I’m not of the opinion that this is a star-making turn for Ellen Page - that distinction goes to last year’s searing Hard Candy - but Juno confirms that she is much more than a flash in the pan. She’s someone to watch. She may not get a Best Actress nomination for her role here (that depends a lot on the marketing and release strategy), but if one comes in her direction, it’s no fluke. She gets able support from a strong cast that includes Superbad’s Michael Cera, but this is Page’s film from start to finish.

Juno is the kind of the film where a viewer almost needs to go into the film looking for a reason to dislike it for it not to work. It’s charming without being saccharine. It’s funny without being rude or dishonest. It’s smart without being smart-assed. And it’s got enough heart to keep the comedic elements in check. When I was done smiling, the movie gave me something to think about, as well: Where were girls like this when I was in high school?

You know what goes a bit against Juno?

All the recent nominated indie-comedies - Lost in Translation, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine - were released earlier in the year and thus were able to build up some monumentum, gain box-office and become audience's favorite. Juno's release seems a bit late in the game for a flick like this, don't you think?

It reportedly got almost a 30-minute standing ovation at Toronto.

I don’t know when I’ve heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm as the one after Jason Reitman’s “Juno,” which I predict will become quickly beloved when it opens at Christmas time, and win a best actress nomination for its 20- year old star, Ellen Page.

It’s the kind of movie you almost insult by describing the plot, because the plot sounds standard and this is a fresh, quirky, unusually intelligent comedy about a 16-year-old girl who wins our hearts in the first scene. Page plays Juno, who gets pregnant, and — no, that’s not it at all. Every element in the movie including her getting pregnant, and her non-boyfriend, and her parents, and the couple that wants to take the baby for adoption, is completely unlike any version of those characters I have ever seen before. And the dialogue is so quick and funny you feel the actors are performing it on a high-wire.

It was so much fun to sit with a huge audience that laughed not just in good humor, but in appreciation and sympathy. Her boyfriend, played by Michael Cera, is so clueless that Juno translates that as “not being like everyone else.” Her father and stepmother, the superb character actors J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney, are older, wiser and funnier than a teenager’s parents are ever allowed to be. The hopeful adoptive couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) are the opposite of what you’d expect, and then turn out to be the opposite of that. And the whole story is textured within a school year that focuses the growing-up that Juno has to do.

This is Reitman’s second film, after the also smart and funny but very different “Thank You for Smoking” (2005), and positions the 30-year old son of Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”) in the first rank of his generation. It’s a nice coincidence that Juno’s family nickname is “Junebug,” reminding us of Phil Morrison’s 2005 comedy “Junebug”
and its equally lovable heroine. The magical screenplay is Diablo Cody’s first, and I won’t ask you to believe me, just look up her biography on IMDb.com.

Fox Searchlight's "Juno" might be the surprise crowd-pleaser of the festival. Jason Reitman's heartfelt follow-up to "Thank You for Smoking" is the antithesis of the heavy Iraqi war dramas and political thrillers, and while it ostensibly tackles teen pregnancy, audiences were laughing and crying in equal measure. The movie already has people talking about the star-making turn of Ellen Page, who plays a pregnant teen, as well as Diablo Cody's script and the music by Kimya Dawson.

The screenwriter's name is Diablo?

I am so there!

Check out her IMDb profile.

Most awesome potential Oscar nominee ever?

Off topic, but I've always wondered what sort of people stand and applaud for 30 minutes after a movie. I'd be exhausted.

I agree.

I honestly wouldn't have known about this movie if it probably wasn't for Michael

Though I am so intrigued right now and it has shot up to my most anticipated.

See! Proof that Jennifer Garner, and her fan base, bring big interest to her projects! On Diablo Cody's blog she was writing about the première and how she felt for my future wife because she was hounded by the press and needed extra security and couldn't really get to join in with the rest of the cast on the red carpet because of the fuss they all made.