The most honest teen movie I have seen

Everything is honest about this film. The characters. The dialogue. The acting. The music. The (magic) realism. "Juno" (Jason Reitman, 2007) has been praised again and again for its originality and no-nonsense style of narrative. And the fact that the writer, Diablo Cody, won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for her debut script pretty much says it all. All well deserved!

Even the casting is disturbingly impeccable. Ellen Page (Juno), Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker), J. K. Simmons (Mac, Juno's father), Allison Janney (Bren, Juno's stepmother), Jennifer Garner (Vanessa), Jason Bateman (Mark) and Olivia Thirlby (Leah) are irresistibly charming, funny and serious without even trying.

Of course, all the pro-life and pro-choice not to mention feminist discussion which have arisen along with this film are not irrelevant, but "Juno" simply IS different from the usual teen/coming-of-age movies. Actually, I don't think I have ever seen a teen film (for girls?) as honest, blank and pertinent as "Juno" is. Well, that would only have to be the poignant "Fish Tank" (Andrea Arnold, 2009).