Juno premieres at Toronto, reunites Arrested Development cast :: Film & TV News :: Articles

It was three years ago that Jason Reitman debuted his first film, Thank You For Smoking, at Toronto. This year he’s back with Juno, a film about Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), a 16-year-old high-school student who gets pregnant and decides to put the baby up for adoption. Like Thank You, Juno is filled with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but while the former’s lead was a smarmy shill for tobacco companies, Juno is one of the most lovable characters to grace the stage in the last few years. Page, now 20, was outstanding as a precocious vigilante in the flawed Hard Candy earlier this year, but Juno offers her more opportunity to showcase her grace and charm. She’s surrounded by an outstanding cast that includes Arrested Development vets Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, as well as Jennifer Garner, Allison Janey and a cameo from Rainn Wilson.

The son of acclaimed comedic director Ivan Reitman (Stripes, Ghost Busters), Jason Reitman said he’d be crazy not to bounce ideas of his father. “I show him screenplays, show him edits. But he doesn’t come to the set much because when he comes by, people stop listening to me and look to him,” he says, laughing.

But the younger Reitman is quickly building his own film portfolio, that while less broad than his fathers’, makes up for it in style and wit—and a talented eye for a great script. “Diablo [Cody] is like a fairy tale come to life,” he said of the blogger-turned-screenwriter. “She wrote this in two months and wrote it [about] two years ago, and no one had to touch it.”

“It’s kind of cheesy,” said Cody. “I decided I was going to write a script, and I kept thinking of different scenarios, and every one seemed to already be a movie that I loved. I thought about these open adoptions that are happening, though, with parents meeting these pregnant teenagers, and I thought that had the potential for high comedy.”

The frequent laughter and standing ovation her film received in Toronto should give her confidence that she succeeded. Juno opens Dec. 14.

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