For lovers of Oprah

Rating: 3/10 (23 February 2008)

Those who love Oprah will probably love this movie along with aficionados of daytime soap operas. The strategy of such movies is to give the characters a few quirks but make sure they all have hearts of gold. Juno is full of witty quips (improbable for most 16 year olds) and her boyfriend Bleeker loves tic-tacs (that's about all we found out about him throughout the entire movie).
Juno's parents blandly accept her pregnancy and they have nothing much to do except wheel her into the maternity ward when she's about to give birth (funny how the father disappears for most of the movie--he's nothing more than a kind-hearted cheerleader for his daughter when we do get to see him).
The screenwriter, Diablo Cody, takes a stab at creating an antagonist in the character of Mark Loring, who decides to divorce his wife and foil Juno's plans of having the couple adopt her baby. But even though he decides to leave, he's also still a good guy--albeit a person who simply needs to "find himself".
Ultimately "Juno" doesn't have enough conflict to keep one's attention for a full hour and a half. Cody falls back on predictable, saccharine moments to fill the void. Did I forget to mention Jennifer Garner? Her 'Vanessa' is probably the dullest of all the characters in the movie.
Many on this board who gave the film a low rating fault it for trivializing teen pregnancy. That might be true but the worse failing is the lack of character development coupled with a predictable and sentimental denouement.