Juno why this film is so popular? I don't.

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2008)

Jason Reitman's "Juno" is the kind of movie that splits audiences. In it, a sixteen year old girl who is supposedly incredibly mature for her age nevertheless finds herself pregnant. After initially cavalierly settling on abortion she has a change of heart and decides to have the baby and give it to a pair of loving parents.
For me, a big problem of the film is believability. If Juno was so wise beyond her years how did she manage to get herself into this situation in the first place? She seems so jaded that there's just about nothing that phases her. That's hard to believe from a sixteen year old with apparently no hard knocks in her life but considerably easier to believe from ex-stripper screenwriter Diablo Cody. It's like Cody said to herself, "Teenage pregnancy? Big deal. If I had gotten pregnant when I was sixteen this is totally what I'd do." That she won an Oscar for her work is amazing, in a pathetic sort of way. I also have a hard time believing that Juno cares about the child at all since she basically wants nothing to do with it. Obviously, if she can foster such feelings toward her own offspring then that pretty much proves that she's unfit for motherhood.
In my mind, another problem is the oh-so-hip dialogue that I find extremely grating. Everyone has a quip ready at a moment's notice no matter the situation. None of it is really meant to be laugh-out-loud funny, more like "Look how clever I am!".
Nevertheless, the film does manage to wring some actual emotion out of its material. The ending is fitting though to call this a coming of age story strikes me as ridiculous since I can't imagine that Juno actually learns anything. She seems to embody the Oscar Wilde quote, "I am not young enough to know everything". That makes her, as a character, quite unlikeable in my eyes.
On the other hand, Ellen Page herself is cute as button, which goes a long way in off-setting her character's know-it-all attitude. Michael Cera is a fine choice for her partner in crime; his character and his performance is much closer to reality. The rest of the cast is solid but not really noteworthy, even J.K. Simmons who is usually hilarious.
The direction by Jason Reitman is well done and was not undeserving of the Best Director Oscar nomination that he received. The music is pretty good too, even though it smacks of the same sort of ultra-hipness as the dialogue. In the end, I think that the film is worth watching but I shudder to think that there are young women out there who see Juno as a role model.