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Ellen Page is a delight. The little brunette from Canada may physically be a small package, but on the screen, she carries the movie Juno most amicably. Through humor, charm, and by being one of the best on screen smart-asses in quite some time, she fills every scene with energy. It’s not every day that a movie about teen pregnancy can be labeled as “fun,” but this is the best movie of its kind since “Napoleon Dynamite.”

Although his father seems to have lost his edge, things look quite promising for Jason Reitman. He has an eye for even the most minimalistic traits of a staged scene, and seems well equipped as an actor’s director. There are moments in this film that remind me of Napoleon Dynamite. Reitman, like Jared Hess, seems to be in tune to the beats required in getting the maximum laughter from the audience. He knows what’s funny. This is definitely an area where the director makes a movie funny. Timing is everything, so they say. Juno is perfect in its supporting characters performances, direction, lighting, and delivery.

There is one gripe I had with the film, and I had almost forgotten that Dan warned me going in: The music is terrible. It doesn’t normally bother me when a film has a bad score, such as when it’s a comedy. But there are a loose collection of amateur songs scribbled over this production that are absolutely meaningless and boring. It’s like the old lady that sang on the “Gilmore Girls” from time to time during scene transitions. One of the songs ties into the story nicely at the end, and that’s fine, but the others had me reaching for the remote. What really puzzles me about it is that music plays heavily into the character arcs in the story. Juno and Jason Bateman’s character connect over the idea of music, and the music that both characters love is truly fantastic.  Also, Juno played in a rock band with the fellow that got her pregnant. What the hell happened?! Why couldn’t you get Sonic Youth or some of the other great 70’s hard rock bands that Juno loves in the movie?

The opening credit montage is also a trite sampling of crappy hand drawn animation; you know the type. Go to apple.com and look at every indie trailer and poster on there, and you’ll see what I mean. This junk needs to stop.

Still, I can’t knock the movie down for having a crappy score, when it left such a wide smile on my face. I’m certain that Ellen Page is headed for great things. I will be shocked if she does not win best actress this year for such an original, realistic, and hilarious performance.