Am I the only one...

Rating: 2/10 (1 March 2008)

Am I the only person who saw through the superficiality of this film. Every single scene was so contrived it made viewing it almost unbearable. The writer and director have clearly gone all out to convince an unsuspecting if not gullible audience that this is a hip, quirky, Indy film by filling every moment with some soft guitar music, "cool" dialogue and rather inventive and original clothing styles. But the result is like a meal ruined by too much seasoning. It's just too overpowering, Juno tries too hard. Who in their right mind keeps a pipe in their mouth just for the sake of it? What kind of self suspecting teenage boy wears stupidly short gold shorts? These characters are so false, so unconvincing that the notion of this film winning best screenplay is pretty ridiculous and even undermines the Oscars themselves. I think the film benefited from being swept up in the pre-Oscars hype, people wanted an outsider to contend with the big boys at the Academy Awards. Ergo Juno gets a large dollop of media attention and lots of people get swept up in the hype, wrongly believing this to be some sort of contemporary masterpiece. Well its not plain and simple. If you are thinking of seeing this film, don't bother. If you have seen this film go and watch Garden State or a Wes Anderson film, or anything by the Coen Brothers or Tarrantino. Many of these films are slightly quirky and offbeat with very real and conversational dialogue, but it is all executed in a purposeful and realistic way. Its not just quirkiness for the sake of it.