Juno: So Quirky, You'll Puke.

I finally saw Juno last week. I actually liked it far more than I expected. To be quite honest, I thought I would hate it, because I am extremely fed up with the recent influx of pregnancy comedies in Hollywood. I never saw Knocked Up or that other movie about the two guys who are trying to "make a baby for daddy", and quite frankly I'd really rather not. I made an exception for Juno, however, since everyone in the universe was praising it to high heavens, and I'm sort of glad I did because it really was pretty cute. The story is pretty cute, the acting is superb, and Michael Cera in short-shorts is generally a good thing. (I don't care how young he is. He's hot. Shut up.)

I did have one problem with Juno, however: THE DIALOGUE.
OH MY GOD. The dialogue is "campy" at best, and nauseating at worst. It's seriously got the worst and most contrived writing I have ever seen in a movie. It runs rampant with pop culture references, namedropping, and awful, corny humor. Here is an example of what I mean:

Juno: (yelling through the house) Uh, dad?
Mac MacGuff: Yeah?
Juno: Either I just wet my pants... or...
Mac MacGuff: "Or"...?
Juno: Or... THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

THUNDERCATS ARE GO? Come on. What the fuck is that? On what planet is that even remotely funny? Perhaps one-liners like that are to be expected in a film written by an ex-stripper. There is also a scene in which Juno is asking the pharmacist if her pregnancy test could be a false positive, to which he replies, "This ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet." The worst of all, however, was the gothy receptionist chick at the abortion clinic who asked Juno if she wanted some "boysenberry" condoms, commenting that it made her "boyfriend's junk smell like pie".

Anyway, regardless of the fact that I find the dialogue annoying and tasteless, I still think that this movie is worth seeing for the excellent cast, the awesome soundtrack (Kimya Dawson, Belle & Sebastian, et cetera), and Michael Cera in short-shorts. Go see it.