Rating: 4.5 Pulses

PG-13

From its funky comic intro to its tender finish, Juno is unlike the teen pregnancy comedies that precede it.

Fresh and offbeat, this story of a small town girl (Page) who ends up pregnant out of her own naive curiosity, could’ve been a cookie cutter replica of

half a dozen other films, but instead stands out with its sharp sardonic dialogue.

It is, at once, both contemporary and classic.

First time screenwriter Diablo Cody (a pseudonym she assumed as a covert blogger in the world of sex operators) offers a very realistic approach to relationships, whether it is the awkwardness of a teenage crush or adults outgrowing a marriage.

Pairing with director Reitman, who made the equally biting and clever Thank You for Smoking, is a good idea. He’s got a great sense of dark cynical comedy and it truly works with this unique and unusual film about one girl’s choice to give her child up for adoption.

Granted she finds the parents in an ad in the local Penny Saver, but that’s just the kind of movie this is: refreshingly unpredictable and slyly hilarious.

Making excellent use of a small cast allows them to shine, especially Garner who sheds her cutesy girl-next-door/bad-ass action chick images to play the subdued adoptive mom-to-be.

Her performance is muted and delicate, a suburban professional eager to complete her perfectly framed collection of the good job, the dream home, the devoted husband; but as is the case in most suburbs, the picture is prettier on the outside than within.

Bateman as her husband is none too eager to let go his rock star ambitions to be the family man she so desperately desires, while the baby’s father, sweet

teenage Paulie (Cera, making two Bluths for those of you keeping tally), seems impossibly innocent and clueless about his role in the child’s life or Juno’s.

And this is certainly Juno’s movie.

Ellen Page, whose caustic performance in 2005’s Hard Candy will haunt men for years to come, brings a softer side to her inherent edginess with her portrayal of the title character.

Despite being dumb enough to find her 16-year-old self in this predicament, Juno’s almost too smart for her own good, my only complaint with the film. With her vintage tees and retro hamburger phone and her quick quips, she’s the cool outcast all the popular boys secretly want and who the girls all want to be. It’s a little unbelievable and inconsistent at times.

Until, of course, she becomes the “cautionary whale” at school, shamelessly parting seas of students with her huge belly. She doesn’t feel superior in her selflessness or overtly insecure with this embarrassing teenage trial. Juno’s only hope is to provide a better environment for her unborn child than she’s known.

And isn’t that what all parents want, be they 16 or 60?