Unbelievably bad

Rating: 1/10 (2 March 2010)

This is a testament to the fact that big companies can make almost anyone love something with enough marketing. This one seems to have a lot going for it. It's pseudo-independent, with a little known actress. It's relatively low budget, and it's quirky. (A quality the mainstream seems to automatically accept as misunderstood genius every time now days.) In the end even Jennifer Garner's multi-million dollar smile can't save this one.
A few days prior I had watched "My Life in Ruins" and I didn't think dialog could get much worse, but "Juno" outdoes it by miles. The sparse laughs in "My Life in Ruins" turns to maybe one wry smile throughout the whole of "Juno." The writing is terrible, especially the main character and her family are unbearable. She doesn't talk like a teenager. She runs her mouth constantly throughout the whole film and uses buzz words and phrases from pop culture throughout the whole movie. It's not in the least natural sounding at all. She's just plain stupid, stupid as a teenager and stupid as a mom. Her parents seem incredibly stupid also.
Meanwhile, she's dropping names like Dario Argento, and Juno says "This is even way better than Suspiria." First of all, what would a horror fan even be comparing those two directors for? Secondly, no Argento fan would suddenly claim Lewis is better. That had to be the writer forcing her own misguided views into the film. I mean that would be like trying to compare Alfred Hitchcock and Guillermo Del Toro, and just coming out saying Hitchcock was way better. There's a certain degree where you just can't compare two artists. The scene is just one small example from a horribly written film.
The film not only insulting to teens it's also insulting to mothers and to motherhood in general. I can't believe anyone likes this film, but I wish people would stop rating it so high because the film industry is going to keep making crap movies like this if people keep encouraging them.