It seems that every year an independent film strikes it big in a way that defies all of its monolithic studio competitors, slaying the visual-effects beasts with the mighty pen loaded with meaningful words and unforgettable characters.

In 2006 it was "Little Miss Sunshine," and this year, the sun is shining on a little-film-that-could called "Juno." The film, which finally went into wide-release last Friday after a successful run in limited release, nabbed more than $16 million at the box office to take second place at the box office.

Directed by Jason Reitman with a sizzling script by Diablo Cody as its foundation, "Juno" has been steamrolling its way through this year's movie awards season. So far it has earned nominations from the Spirit Awards and Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Actress for Ellen Page, and to top it off, Best Screenplay nods for Cody in her screenwriting debut.

Cody, who has already earned Best Screenplay honors from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review, as well as the Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix film critics groups, admitted in a recent @ The Movies interview that's it's been tough keeping grounded amid all of the hoopla.

"I haven't stayed level headed," a beaming Cody said. "I'm in a real chaotic place right now. But it's a lot of fun and a gift, and I'm trying to appreciate every day of it."

In the film, Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, a quick-on-her-feet Minnesota teen who suddenly finds herself facing a crucial decision when a brief sexual encounter with her deer-in-the-headlights best friend (Michael Cera) leads to an unplanned pregnancy.

But Juno isn't your ordinary 16-year-old girl. And her quirky demeanor leads to an interesting series of events when she decides to give up her baby in an open adoption arrangement with a seemingly normal couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman).

A native of Chicago, Cody -- whose real name is Brook Busey-Hunt -- wrote "Juno" after she moved to Minneapolis to be with her boyfriend after she met him on the Internet.

But before Cody became known for the whimsical script that critics and film fans have bellied up to, she took the necessary measures by taking off her clothes to research and write the book "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper." Also in the interim, she's made a name for herself with her observations on her sharp-tongued blog.

If you've ever had a chance to read Cody's blog, or even have thumbed through her hilarious introduction of the "Juno" shooting script (Newmarket Books), you'll likely get that sense that it's Cody is speaking through Page on the screen.

"You have to credit Ellen," Cody said. "That's a testament to her skills. She's just really incredible."

It has to make you wonder how much of the wise-beyond-her-years Juno is actually the 29-year-old Cody.

"A lot of it is me," Cody said. "But I'd be flattering myself if I said that I was exactly like Juno because she is far more articulate, clever and mature than I ever was at that age. But I certainly relate to her in many ways, and I think in a lot of ways, she's a reflect of the things that had meaning to me as an adolescent."

And while "Juno" has been a maturation process for Cody, it doesn't mean she can't act like a kid sometimes. Case in-point: her reaction to the news that she was nominated for a Golden Globe.

"Jason Reitman and I got on the phone together for an announcement -- it was just a great moment," Cody said, laughing. "I was shrieking like a little b----. I just about put out Reitman's eardrum."