Yep, I had the exact same reaction to Juno as Dana. I don't remember hating the first twenty minutes of a film so much to end up still enjoying myself by the end. I think it's a good, little movie though I am tired of hearing about Diablo Cody: it says something about our culture that we're so titillated about a former stripper whose doing "respectable" work now (you know, a lot of screenwriters were waiters-with-a-blog too, but I'm not bludgeoned over the head about them).

But Juno is good because it has insanely good actors who understand comedy...Ellen Page is the personification of someone who has "it," Michael Cera and Jason Batemen are comic masterminds just by sitting there, and JK Simmons and Allison Janey are A-list character actors (Jennifer Garner did her best work ever, as well). Having actors that good tends to make people think that everything else is really good when it's not. Juno was not directed particularly well; the tedious shots of cookie cutter homes is just one of Jason Reitman's unoriginal ways of making a statement about suburbia. Reitman also has a bad habit of stepping on his own jokes (this was REALLY bad in "Thank You for Smoking"). The geek-chic music selection was far too precious. And again, the script...spending the first half-hour not laughing with those actors is not very impressive. The irony is that everyone is focused on Diablo Cody's dialogue and her strongest skill is character and structure. Her dialogue is always at some level of bad. But hey, first script...

Bottom line, two gargantuan American films were made this year ("No Country" and "Blood"), they're going to take everything on the planet, and a little movie with a first-time writer and second-time director got notice, made people happy, and threw some glow on lots of people involved. So what's the problem again, haters?

The problem is that many people are making far grander claims than you are. There are many, for instance, claiming it is the best movie of the year.

This is a common argumentative technique: There's a position A (Juno is an incredible movie, the best picture of the year!). Some people make a critique of position A. You state position A-minus (Juno's a really good movie that's getting held to an overly high standard.) You then deride critics of position-A, from the vantage of position A-minus. (What's the problem again, haters?) But that's bogus. The problem for most people is with the real claim A, that Juno is this masterpiece that deserves to be considered among the best movies of the year. You present a watered-down version of argument A just to deflect criticisms of it. Bogus.

"(Juno's a really good movie that's getting held to an overly high standard.)"

But, it's position A-minus that hits the nail on the head. I can not imagine a Rambo or Meet the Spartans inspiring the same sort of indignation and general fuss which has followed a Juno screening. Some dialogue works, some falls flat. Some scenes communicate pain, hope, etc. effectively, some make me wish for a quick end. But, overall I enjoyed the movie. The characters were mostly well developed and their actions made sense, even if some of the dialogue did not. And the quality of the acting (esp. Garner, Simmons, Cera) saved a lot of possible problems with the script.

This was MY Problem:At 80,my nose can still smell a dead fish a mile away,and when that adorable child walked into the abortion clinic and it was set up to look like an S&M,post-post hippy crash pad with a freak-show atthe desk,turning little Miss Highschool Preg totally OFF,my problem was,Oh No!!!not a subliminal right-to-lifer writer putting smart remarks into this child's mouthy mouth,and turning her away from a viable option with a ridiculous claptrap script and clownish set.(the receptionist and the clinic).Teen age pregnacies are on the rise.Do we need a movie that says,do it,have it,and give it away. SEX AND A BABY.Terrific message.From an ex-stripper yet. So,I had THAT problem.

Ugh, yes! That abortion clinic was like no medical office I've ever seen before; it was ridiculously trashy and unprofessional. I know they needed a way for her to consider abortion and then not want to go through with it, but they totally picked an easy way, and it made abortion seem like an amateur operation facilitated by idiotic girls who won't shut up about condoms. Please.

Uhh... it was supposed to be funny... Surreal even?

Yes, the acting was much better than the script. The big surprise to me was the performance of Jason Bateman, who wound up playing a more interesting (but less mature) character than I expected.

The script and direction of Juno are clever but painfully overrated. Ellen Page was wonderful in her ability to make that dialog sound at all natural.

I had the same feeling about Juno as I did about Waitress earlier in the year - witty, but not close-to-great. I would rather have seen more Oscar nominations for Eastern Promises, particularly for David Cronenberg who's become an outstanding director over the last few years.