Painful

Rating: 5/10 (10 February 2008)

As someone who has experienced adoption first-hand, I found the premise of this film, and the manner in which it was carried out, painfully unfunny. There was some pleasant charm in the relationship of Juno and her beau, and the character of Juno was a treat, but the plot was both largely implausible and curiously insensitive from a "right to life" standpoint. It's hard to figure why this film was nominated for an Academy Award in the best picture category. Of course, it's always hard to figure why any film is nominated. Some of the dialogue worked; some was precocious. In all, "Juno" has the feel of a low-budget independent film.