I heard the praise, i watched the film, and i was let down

Rating: 5/10 (4 July 2008)

Ellen Page (Hard candy) stars as Juno, a teenager who falls pregnant and doesn't want the baby for herself.
In all its hype and being a huge fan of the drama genre and J.K Simmons (Spiderman) I was really looking forward to this. I had a reasonable day at work and sat down ready to be enticed into the trauma of a young girl with a load on her shoulders, but in a way, this Oscar nominated picture kind of strayed from her emotions in the first hour, which I felt was a big mistake. A 16 year old who is carrying a baby that belongs to the love of her life who has suddenly gone cold on her, and she isn't bothered by this massive burden ahead of her? OK a rough past may have made her grow up, but still some emotion at the beginning would have given the character a more realistic and interesting image. Page's Oscar nominated performance was OK in my personal opinion, though I have never seen her in anything else before, but her character was really annoying.
I had read a few reviews to, all claiming that it was a funny film, but I must have smiled once throughout, as the actions and dialogue had my eyebrows firmly placed at the top of my head in confusion.
I felt the first hour was really poor, with a stereotype running the show, questionable dialogue, and sometimes bizarre direction. The acting is good, from everyone. Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman are good, but don't match up to J.K Simmons who is terrific, as is Michael Cera.
However, despite all the faults in the first hour, there is a great realistic last half an hour with tensions running high and changes in proceedings, finally giving the film an edge and an interest to keep me watching to the end. One scene actually made me feel sorry for Juno.
Despite its faults in direction, humour and characters, the film still conforms to the genre and has a really good last half an hour, but given the tension and excitement I had heard and read leading up to it, it was a real let down.