Pretentious unrealistic dialogue belies a sweet little love story

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2008)

First and foremost, i DID like this movie. It was a sweet little love story and by the tale's end we see a happy ending for the title character and her baby daddy. The problem i had was with Juno herself... or perhaps with the script. While i won't lie and say i NEVER laughed during the film, i feel like i did a lot more eye rolling at some of Juno's dialogue.
Juno's dialogue was rife with pop culture references, name dropping and too much heavy handed sarcasm. To hear and see it performed, it didn't come off as naturalistic or believable to the plot, it just came off that Diablo Cody (screenplay's scribe) really wanted to impress people with her database of obscure minutia. Its almost as if she knew her target audience was teens and critics and she married her targeting to both demographics.
the other issue i had with this movie was with Juno's over the top immunity to life's ire. Having been through two pregnancies with my wife, i know even in the best circumstances one cannot keep up the ridiculous front that Juno did in this film. At some point reality sets in, emotions kick in and you feel... something. This didn't happen with Juno. She is the smartest character in the entire movie. Diablo Cody has made her very own Mary Sue in Juno. the little girl she wishes she could have been. Juno will not likely grow up to strip or do phone sex.
Fans will defend and say "Well Juno is just a genius girl who interacts in this environment and this is how such a unique girl handles the situation" or as i call it the 'Max Fischer Defense' but sadly with snarky lines like "They make his junk smell like pie" "that ain't no etch-a-sketch home skillet" et al that argument falls apart. EVERYONE inhabiting Juno's world talk like Kevin Smith script rejects constantly reading off of pre-written pages.
Film Critic (fans) love the heavy handed pretentious dialogue because "Hey i have seen that movie, i know the actors to which Juno references and its so witty" and teens love it because Cody has created a too-cool-for-school character they all want to be. "OMG she is JUST LIKE ME AND MY FRIENDS-- LOL" I did like the film, a sweet little love story finds its way through the Jungle that is an overworked unrealistic script.