Could have been much more than a kooky, feelgood, idiosyncratic movie

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2008)

This may sound like an awful fudge, but I am not exactly sure how to take "Juno".
On the one hand "Juno" is really funny, has some great performances (especially from Ellen Page, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) and perfectly picks up on the idiom of smart teenage slang. On the other hand, the story that unfolds is all very nice and neat and tidy, and not nearly conflicted or dramatic enough.
For instance...
Yes, I know it was only a plot device to prevent Juno from going ahead with the termination (no pregnancy, no movie!), but was it really necessary to paint the abortion clinic in such an unpleasant light? Very clichéd, very dull and certainly not the experience I had, a few years ago, when I accompanied my Sister to a similar establishment. It made it too easy for Juno to make the decision that she did.
At the end, would a girl like Juno really have just given up her baby without a second thought, or a glance backwards? Would she have immediately have taken back up with the boy who made her pregnant? What about his feelings? Or his Mother's? What about her parents? They more or less just agreed straight away with what she wanted to do? Way, way too understanding and I didn't believe it. Juno is a smart mouthed, but nice, 16 years old girl. What does a 16 year old girl know, or boy for that matter?
I am writing as though I didn't enjoy "Juno", but that is incorrect. I did enjoy "Juno", but it could have been much more than a kooky, feelgood, idiosyncratic movie.