Redemption Song

I felt I was destined to walk out of the theater after the first five minutes of 'Juno'. Like Quentin Tarantino before him, Wes Anderson's following and praise have only been matched by a sleiu of imitators. Some good. Some bad. The formula is simple:
High school outsiders who are faced with an obstacle/goal to overcome/achieve, from which they will learn a lesson on the hardships of growing up.
Ambiguous clothing make dating the period difficult/fun ("timeless")
Quirky, pop soundtrack
Non-sequitors
Funny, colorful background characters
"Cool" adults are there to guide them in their lesson learning. Sometimes by making mistakes of their own.
'Juno' opens with a rather rock-looking teenage girl drinking a ginormous jug of Sunny Delight (which I guess, in my absence, has officially been renamed the popular nickname - Sunny D) and staring at a comfy looking recliner that is mysteriously placed on the lawn. After a deadpan silence, we're met with a deadpan narrator: 'It all started with a chair. This is the most beautiful furniture set I've ever seen". The movie begins. The next scene finds our protagonist, Juno, at the local corner store to buy yet another home pregnancy test. Though Rainn Wilson (maybe my favorite comic character actor out there today) is the cruel checkout clerk, the scene is so loaded with rhyming jokes that it's hard to feel the film isn't trying too hard to come of as "Wes Anderson-hip" as it makes a cool/odd goof of a 16-year old girl discovering she's pregnant. And when we meet the father-to-be, he's wearing a running suit that - you guessed it - could've come straight out of the '70's.
Luckily, I stayed. For all of it's quirky-hip familiarities, 'Juno' eventually starts to feel natural. The pop score is paced and unfamiliar enough that it doesn't kill you with coolness or accompanying montages . We're not bombarded with non-sequitors that try too hard to make the movie feel offbeat. And 'Juno' hosts an ace up its sleeve in the form of Ellen Page. As our protagonist, she carries the film with almost endless grace. It's safe to say that just about all teenage girls would be devastated by learning they're pregnant. But Page makes Juno's roll-with-the-punches approach to the situation so much easier to swallow. Though she occasionally tries too hard to be tough and irreverent, Page still creates a classic teen movie icon.
For all the anticipation of Roe vs. Wade-style lessons, the pregnancy is merely a means to tell a fine tale about growing up; whether it's Juno dealing with the repercussions of her own selfishness or Mark never wanting to let go of his youth. Though we may be getting a little tired of the hip, indie dramedy; it's still a relief to see a movie that can make us smile about the things that force us to grow up.