Ellen Page is very believable as a sixteen-year-old who becomes pregnant and knows she is not ready to be a mother. This film speaks positively about adoption although the character, Juno, briefly considers getting an abortion. The theme of giving the child to a woman who wants very desperately to be a mother is well done, as is the scene in which Juno’s father tells her that if she can find someone who loves her for who she is, it doesn’t get any better than that. In a touching scene Juno looks lovingly at her baby during an ultrasound.
Juno is a powerful story about how inappropriate actions have consequences. Juno and her boyfriend do have sex outside of marriage and there are serious consequences. It’s a story that needs to be told in today’s peer-pressured society under the right circumstances. However, the strong language prevents us from awarding our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal to this movie.