Overrated!

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2008)

I just watched this film for the second time, and I cannot begin to comprehend why it is going to win best original screenplay at the Oscars. There is absolutely no human emotion whatsoever for the first forty minutes of the film. Apparently, Diablo Cody believes everyone talks as if they were texting or on AIM, because the dialouge is not even moderately clever or amusing. Also, the characters are so poorly written, especially Juno's dad, who has nothing to do but make lame jokes and give typical fatherly advice to his daughter. Jason Reitman's bland direction feels as if he is trying to imitate Wes Anderson (a far superior filmmaker), yet doesn't really want to put in the effort. For the most part, the acting is pretty good, especially Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman. And the last thirty minutes are decent, but can't save the rest of the film. All in all, this is like a cheap spin-off of Scrubs and Arrested Development trying to be a Wes Anderson film.