"It started with a chair", the opening scene/quote filled me with dread. Despite rave reviews I feared a pretentious movie that was going to try to win me over with hip and off-the-wall dialogue - or worse, soliloquy!

The cinema management had obviously miscalcualted the mild outside temperature and had cranked up the heating to an almost stifling level. So I thought I was in for an uncomfortable ride. When I soon realised, having not looked up the synopsis of the movie, I was in for 90 odd minutes of teenage pregnancy and associated angst I was wishing I had opted for the extra large bucket of popcorn. However, despite a slowish start, peppered with some forced laughter from people who had read the poster ("Funniest movie etc.") I began to warm to the characters.

I stared at J.K. Simmons and Jennifer Garner for most of the film trying to work out why I remembered them as characters from recent movies I was looking at J. Jonah Jameson and Elektra! How could I not remember. I think it was because they were both acting so well as normal people instead of comic characters.

Ellen Page was excellent as a nearly 21 year old playing a believable 16 year old pregnantee and confidently playing a slighlty different role to the one in Hard Candy! As with Little Miss Sunshine, with which it has been compared, Juno builds slowly towards some laugh out loud moments later on. It is a sensitive and inciteful movie that handles a difficult subject very well. I can fully understand why it has been so successful in the USA. I imagine it appeals to all sorts of people who can relate to the various characters, with the possible exception of teenage boys. Ok so its a chick flick but it has a happy ending and is something that guys (over the age of 16) can relate to.

As for the acid test...would I watch it again? No because 'it's a bit of a chik flick'. But don't let that put you off, this is well worth a look.