2007 was an incredible year for Elliot Page. The budding Canadian actor had a string of big hits that garnered massive critical and award attention, warming up with deliciously twisted Lollipop in 2005 and knock him out of the park with Juno. It was the big movie of the year that everyone was talking about, first in terms of its greatness and then in terms of its perceived impact on younger viewers. Page received at least thirty-five nominations for the role and took twenty of them. For a while you just couldn’t escape Juno effect, and Elliot Page has rightfully become the new young star to be reckoned with. But among all the much-deserved accolades for Page’s electric work, others didn’t quite get the recognition they deserved for their work on the film, especially Jennifer Garner.

Juno boasts an absolutely amazing cast that seems very symbolic for its time. J.K. Simmons And Allison Janney had not yet achieved their Oscar glory and were well known for memorable secondary characters; Michael Cera was in the midst of his cute wimp of the golden era on the heels Very bad; Jason Bateman rose from teen idol to full-fledged actor and was good at comedy; and Jennifer Garner some time before 13 Ongoing 30 cemented her on the A list. Up to this point, Garner’s career had been a bit of everything. Starting with episodic roles in films such as Dude, where’s my car?, Pearl Harbor And Catch Me If You Canthings took an interesting turn when she portrayed the comic book character Elektra. 13 Ongoing 30 showed her chilling out and having fun with a really enjoyable script and cast, proving she’s quite natural when it comes to comedy. So Juno came at the perfect time to really showcase her versatility as an actress.

What is Juno about?

Elliot Page in the movie Juno
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

Juno MacGuff is a 16-year-old girl who is not like other girls. She’s a bit of a tomboy, she has eclectic taste in everything from clothes and music to furniture and movies, and for some reason the whole town seems to think of her as “different” when really she’s only to blame that she is a precocious teenager. She finds out she accidentally got pregnant by her best friend Paulie (Sera) and is initially about to have an abortion but breaks down and finds the next best solution: a wealthy middle class couple who will give her child the life she never could. .

This is where Mark (Bateman) and Vanessa (Garner) come in, and their introduction is meant to highlight just how out of Juno’s realm these people are. The action oscillates between a beat-up old McGuff truck driving through a perfectly tidy affluent neighborhood and a pair of well-groomed hands setting the scene in a snow-white middle-class house. As hands push the picture frame to a perfectly right angle and fan out a collection of fashion magazines, it becomes clear that these two very different worlds are about to collide.

What makes Jennifer Garner’s performance in Juno stand out?

Elliot Page and Jennifer Garner in Juno
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

From the very beginning, the smallest details of Garner’s performance make it clear that Vanessa lives at the limit of her possibilities in the most boring way. When Juno barges into their life of edgy one-liners and frayed plaid shirts, Vanessa twists herself, determined to appease Juno in any way she can because she personifies her distant dream of parenthood. It is clear from her reserved responses and physical toughness that Vanessa does not like Juno, perhaps even feels threatened by her, and almost certainly expresses this contempt behind closed doors. These two women would never have crossed paths in any other scenario, and they both find it unpleasant to deal with each other.

This first meeting is a brilliant awkwardness on the part of everyone involved except Juno. Her father Mac (Simmons) is out of his element in this white palace, doesn’t know what a Pilates machine is, and pretends to be just another working-class dumbass, while Vanessa smiles and politely carries on the conversation. going. With Juno as our protagonist, it’s easy to see Vanessa as different, and that they both tolerate each other for the same reason: Juno needs a parent and Vanessa needs a child. However, Garner allows for moments of vulnerability in her character that may make viewers sympathize with her.

In a touching moment of hurtful gaffe, Vanessa (who has been found to have fertility issues) declares that pregnancy is wonderful, but Juno retorts, “You’re lucky it’s not you.” The look of muted pain on Vanessa’s face as she pouts slightly and looks away is so startling. Juno, with the bravado of a chatty teenager, clearly does not mean anything offensive in his comment and does not even seem to notice that he misspoke. But it’s pretty clear from Garner’s low-key reaction that this will hurt Vanessa deeply, and that in the alternate universe, she’ll have a long tirade to retaliate against this cocky kid. But since her elusive dream of motherhood is in the hands of this child, she is silent.

At the end of each “Mark and Vanessa” segment, the director Jason Reitman shrewdly lets the action linger on the couple for a few seconds after Juno leaves, providing a visual barometer of their relationship as it deteriorates and their individual perspective on the situation. After their first meeting with Juno, Mark hugs an emotional Vanessa with an expression of expectant satisfaction, as if to say, “Are you happy now?” Later, when Mark and Juno hang out alone—which really annoys his wife—Vanessa keeps her distance, clasping her hands and pursing her lips in mock satisfaction, determined not to do anything that would jeopardize her imminent paternity. . These little wordless moments depend entirely on body language to convey the feelings of the characters, almost mirroring this couple’s suffocated existence and accurately visualizing how they act - speaking as little as possible and moving forward.

Mark and Vanessa’s relationship is strained

Mark and Vanessa’s relationship is perhaps the most raw and sincere in the film. It’s easy to see Mark as a big kid still enjoying the thrill of life and pursuing his dream of becoming a musician, and Vanessa as a cold, frigid harridan who has apparently forgotten what it’s like to have fun. These classifications are not wrong, but they are simple, and if there is one Juno no, it’s simple. The main plot features only require a pair of adoptive parents, so a simpler film dealing with a teenage pregnancy ending in adoption might depict the couple as one-dimensional cutouts that catch Juno’s baby and carry it off into the sunset. for a happy middle class life. But the film dares to explore the world of adult issues as well, and this is important, because, despite all the audacity and lightness of Juno, her world is not all sunny. The scene in which Juno pulls up to the side of the road in her battered family van to cry is integral: the character is finally unmasked and shown admitting her vulnerability, and she has no witty line to throw into the situation.

What kind of writer Diablo Cody gets so right here that in seeking to portray teenage girls with authenticity, she doesn’t lose sight of what adults actually look like. Mark and Vanessa are perhaps the most interesting characters she creates in this unique scenario. When Mark finally confesses to Juno that he doesn’t want to be a parent, or more delicately, “not ready” to be a parent, she is stunned. But you are old! she protests. She has an idea of ​​what adults look like, and it’s a dull, stable monotony that’s probably considered happiness. They have to go through a stage in life where they have dreams and goals outside of family and home, and parenthood should come naturally to them because they are just at that age. Mark is living proof that this is not the case, and it turns her whole concept of life and adulthood upside down. Growing up doesn’t equal happiness or stability, and that’s the only thing she craves.

So it’s a real treat to see how a young adult film really cares about making the adults as real and real as the kids. From the first scene in which they appear, Mark and Vanessa’s life stances become very clear, both in the script and in how Garner and Bateman present. Vanessa’s constantly anguished expression, with a desperate look in her eyes that suggests she might burst into tears at any minute, and very careful walking around Juno and Mac show that she is doing her best to calm this sixteen-year-old smartass. It’s all about what’s left unsaid. Vanessa, in a hushed tone and with a look of disappointed concern, would say, “Did you find us at The Penny Saver?” That’s all we need to infer what she’s thinking: “What must they think of us advertising our most personal problems in such a cheap, low-rated magazine?” Garner clearly understands her character as a woman, stifled by social expectations, who has all the finest things in life, but she still cannot find happiness or even a moment of peace.

And of course, hurt people hurt people, and the relentless restraint she shows every day masks a lot of bitterness. In a pivotal explosion scene, when Mark finally confesses his feelings, she brings out the worst in Vanessa, but even then, Garner finds restraint in his anger. Instead of screaming and sobbing, she grabs onto the dais and very calmly humiliates Mark’s musical dreams to the point of telling him that his shirt is stupid and that he should grow up. She projects onto him her ideas of success and how he does not realize them. She is condescending and knows exactly what to say to offend her husband. Garner’s mother-like composure as she lands these low blows underlines that Vanessa sees her husband as a child in her own right, not an equal or partner. She feels entitled to his cooperation, so when it turns out that Mark is actually a human with his own feelings and desires that don’t exactly match her own, she sees that the most important opportunity in her life is slipping away and she leaves. . into protection mode.

The key quality that Garner brings to his role is vulnerability. Between Cody’s insightful scripting and Garner’s emotionally charged performance, they take the character from unlike to understandable, if not quite close, and elicit sympathy from the audience. Juno may not like Vanessa as “a graphic designer, 30s, with a cool Asian girl who dresses cool and plays bass”, but she is a real person who goes through a lot of pain and pressure, and everything she really wants is something that many other people achieve with ease or even by accident. As much as she wants to be together, she’s weak and every day is a desperate upstream struggle and that’s something people can relate to. Her character arc, especially when paired with Juno, is so touching because it was an emotional journey for both of them and they both came out on the other side with a better understanding of themselves and those they love. As Juno’s stepmother predicts, “someone else will find a precious blessing from Jesus in this garbage dump of the situation” and what really ties it all together is the journey of that someone finally finding peace and contentment in a chaotic and otherwise unfair world.