Bee-tee-dubs, homes, Juno wasn't Zeus's wife.

I think I am one of the last people in the world to finally see Juno.

It's a good movie. It had the potential to be great, if not for one major flaw. Juno is likely the most OVER-WRITTEN film I have ever seen, ever. That annoyed me to the point of almost not being able to enjoy it.

Despite almost perfect casting, a versatile and enjoyable soundtrack and fantastic set design, I couldn't get past how forced Juno's character is. Yes, okay, Juno is a very quirky and cool (compared to other girls at her school) and quick-witted girl. There are ways to communicate those aspects without being so freaking over-the-top.

Conveying personality traits should be transparent to be effective, not based on random interests incongruous with the average American teenage girl glaringly pointed out during otherwise natural dialog between characters. To me, the film felt like an hour and a half of real people handling real topics in a believable fashion with Juno's character popping up like a whack-a-mole declaring, "I'm sixteen and a girl and my favorite band Iggy and the Stooges!" "I'm sixteen and a girl and Dario Argento is the master of horror flicks!" "I'm sixteen and a girl and make references to Soupy Sales, Mott the Hoople and the Thunder Cats!" "I'm sixteen and a girl and... and..."

That's not to say that teenagers can't or don't ever have an interest in --even a passion for-- aspects of popular culture that were current long before their time. But in this case, I felt like it was pitched as Juno's only selling point. That took a lot away from the overall story and the more well-developed characters.

I don't know much about this Diablo Cody woman who wrote the screenplay, but my perception is that she used the Juno character to project herself onto the big screen. Ellen Page is an incredibly likable actor, and I would love to see her in something where she's not being used as a vehicle for someone else's ego.

Kind of a rant, kind of a rave. That's all.


Iggy Pop: Not from England. Master of the junkie anthem turned cruise line jingle.