Too self-conscious

Rating: 3/10 (8 May 2008)

I wouldn't say it's a bad movie, but the screenplay is too distracting to be a good one. It's constantly drawing attention to itself through its quippy vernacular and pop-culture references, some of which were extremely awkward and contrived ("home skillet"? "Thundercats"? "Soupy Sales"? Please). I never once fell into the story, since the screenwriter insisted on reminding me that I was watching a cool, hip, funny movie.
I also thought the treatment of Jason Bateman's character was highly flawed. The first couple of times we see him with Juno, we get the very sense that he's interacting with her in a way that's inappropriate. He's subtly playing with her emotions to gratify his own ego, and that's worth discussing. But then, when they meet a final time, he all but propositions her -- a sixteen-year-old pregnant girl. I thought this flattened his character; previously an interesting study of a late-thirties suburban male, now he's just a lecherous villain that we can safely boo off the screen. This was a cop-out, in my opinion, as much of this movie was. They weren't interested in examining difficult decisions and emotions; all they wanted was for us to bask in their hip, progressive insight.