7 Excellent Coming Of Age Movies
2. Juno
Juno was an indie sensation that probed the area of teenage life that is most often relegated exclusively to terrible MTV reality TV shows: teenage pregnancy. But this is no moralising polemical take on teenage promiscuity. Rather, this is Diablo Cody's wonderfully charming screenplay that sees one teenager bringing a child into the world and healing a lot of bad relationships in the process.
Juno features an enigmatic lead in Elliot Page, but it also shows that coming of age movies aren't restricted to single, personal narratives. Once Juno finds suitable adoptee parents for her child, she forces Jason Bateman's character to admit to Jennifer Garner that he isn't ready to marry her, is able to finally relate to the father of her child (played by Michael Cera) and naturally grows up a lot herself along the way.
Juno is a success for not being afraid to stand out and say that a mistake early on won't necessarily ruin anyone's life, and may actually do a lot of good. It might feature Michael Cera in that one bumbling teen role he seems typecast into, but Juno is a wonderful story with an awful lot of heart.