Juno. Like the city in Alaska?

Shelly and I went to Juno this afternoon and we both loved it. Absolutely loved it. It is the brainchild of local Mpls blogger Diablo Cody and was never dull.

It is an odd little tale of a strange girl named Juno (after Zeus' wife - talk about big shoes to fill) who finds herself in a bit of a pickle after becoming pregnant from one encounter with orange tic-tac eating/best friend/boyfriend Paulie Bleaker.

Everyone in the movie is perfectly cast, especially Juno - she is portrayed by Ellen Page and she is phenomenal. Talk about taking acerbic wit to a new level, she always has the best lines and gives the impression she is wise beyond her years, but in the end she is just a scared 16 year old from Minnesota who has enough sense to know she isn't ready to be a mom.

Allison Janney (from the West Wing) has some of the other best lines as Juno's stepmother Bren and Jennifer Garner (who Shelly and I both love from our Alias-obsession days) does a realistic portrayal of Vanessa who is waiting for a child. Her character I didn't really like at first, but by the end of the movie you were so rooting for her and her life.

Another one of my favorites Jason Bateman plays Vanessa's husband Mark who ends up as a complete antithesis of how Vanessa evolved for the viewer. Loved him in the beginning - maybe more in the middle and by the end I couldn't stand the Kurt Cobain wannabe, commercial composer loser.

Like I said, go see Juno - it is so very good.