by Luanne Paul King

Juno

Ellen Page artfully plays Juno MacGuff, a cheeky but empathetic 16-year-old who is pregnant from making love with schoolmate Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Writer Diabolo Cody crafts bravura lines for Juno as she deliberates what to do.

Juno visits a “Women Now” clinic intending to have “a hasty abortion,” but she finds the place disgusting. Back home, she tells her father Mac (J.K. Simmons) and her stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) that she’s pregnant. They are shocked, but eventually all agree that Juno should have the baby and arrange for a reliable couple to adopt it. Juno sees a PennySaver ad by some would-be parents: Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason Bateman), a composer. Juno gets to know and like them and signs the necessary adoption papers. She keeps them informed, even bringing them ultrasound pictures as the baby grows. She becomes friendly with Mark; they share music and play guitars together.

As the baby’s birth nears, Mark confesses he doesn’t want to be a parent; only Vanessa wants the baby. Juno is  devastated when the couple files for divorce. What will she decide now? I began to worry with Juno whether Vanessa could be a single parent.

Fortunately, director Jason Reitman amplifies Diabolo Cody’s quirky script with humor and empathy. A brilliant cast of supporting actors enhances Ellen Page’s marvelous portrayal of a maturing teenager.

Available on DVD. Rated PG-13.      92 minutes.

August Rush

This film asks for a “willing suspension of disbelief” to enjoy its story — or perhaps an outright belief that beautiful music can unite long-lost people. I love this film!

Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) is a 12-year-old boy who has always lived in an orphanage. He believes his parents are living and someday he’ll find them.

Evan hears music in everything — wind, grasses, horns, voices — especially after he runs away to New York City. There he meets Lizzy (Bonnie McKee) playing a guitar in a park. She takes him to a hangout run by Maxwell “Wizard” Wallace (Robin Williams) who shelters homeless kids who play music for tips that he hoards. He renames Evan, calling him “August Rush.” The boy easily learns how to play the guitar and becomes popular with people in the parks.

August’s father, Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), has come to New York. He has lost track of former lover Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), who is August’s mother, and wants to find her. Louis sees August playing a guitar; they talk and enjoy playing guitars together. I was very moved to see them connect musically without knowing they were father and son.

August visits a church and instinctively knows how to play its huge organ. Impressed, the minister takes him to Juilliard. As a prodigy, August is given a scholarship. He writes a rhapsody and he’s invited to conduct it in Central Park. On the same program, a cellist will be performing; it’s Lyla Novacek, August’s mother. She has learned that her baby didn’t die at birth as her father said 12 years ago. Mother, father and son are now in the same city. Will they find each other?

Available on DVD. Rated PG. 113 minutes.