Juno scores 4/5

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Juno MacGuff is your average 16-year-old American girl. She likes Iggy and the Stooges. She's a fan of Dario Argento's horror films. She plays guitar in a band. She's got a hamburger-shaped phone in her room.

And she's pregnant. Or, as she puts it, "forshizz up the spout". You see, like most of the people in her nondescript suburban neighbourhood, Juno comes armed with too-cool-for-school dialogue peppered with sharp one-liners and rapid-fire retorts — the kind that usually pop into your head five minutes too late.

Exhibit A: Juno, who's decided to keep her baby mainly because the abortion clinic smelled "funny", discusses possible adoption with a childless yuppie couple.

Asks the teen: "I mean, can't we just, like, kick this old school? Like, I have the baby, put it in a basket and send it your way, like, Moses and the reeds?"

"Technically, that would be kicking it Old Testament," replies Mark Loring. It's a comedy slam dunk.

Even a convenience store clerk gets in on the action. When Juno refuses to accept the 'plus' sign returned by a home pregnancy kit, he points out: "That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."

Even if nobody actually speaks like that, it's lines like these that win Oscars — and, more importantly, find their way onto T-shirts or fawning websites created by rabid fans.

But for all the witty dialogue and quirky subtleties penned by former stripper Diablo Cody, the story at the core of her first screenplay is a remarkably simple one. Juno (portrayed with just the right couldn’t-give-a-shit cool by 20-year-old Ellen Page) gets knocked up, finds the Lorings in the classifieds section of the local rag, and carries on with her normal life (albeit with a bit of added weight).

Sure, there are relationship issues with the baby's daddy — the dorky Paulie Bleeker (obsessed with running and orange-flavoured Tic Tac breathmints) — and the adoptive parents might have a few problems of their own. But, sidestepping most of the issues surrounding teen pregnancy, 'Juno' is remarkably short on real drama.

In developments as unlikely as her dialogue, dad and step-mom barely blink when she announces the bun in the oven; any issues with the school are glossed over; and a break-up on the sidelines could best be described as a non-event. There's not even a joke about morning sickness.

Nonetheless, with its lower-budget aesthetics and DIY soundtrack, Jason Reitman's film is achingly funny, mining a particularly rich vein of black humour in a way that only smaller, independent American comedies like 'Little Miss Sunshine' or 'Sideways' can. Sweeter, gentler and, frankly, better than 'Knocked Up', 'Juno' might not change the world — but it will have you snorting your Coke and popcorn out of your nose. Forshizz.