And I hated it only slightly less than I thought it would. Maybe it’s because it was a follow-up to The Darjeeling Limited, an infinitely cooler and quirkier film, and so it just fell short.

But no matter how much I wanted to like this movie, I just couldn’t.

The thing is, Juno is supposed to be this against-all-stereotypes hero, an awesomely unique loner discarding the image of the shallow glamour girl. But Juno is herself an image, a created idea, with just as little grounding in reality as those stereotypes (which she has so edgily rejected). At that would be fine if she wasn’t supposed to be a relatable character. But who’s really like that? There are a LOT more Napoleon Dynamites in the world than there are Junos. The character, the settings, the dialogue – it didn’t feel ‘real’ or natural to me, it just felt forced.

Anyway, I agree with Rich that there have been far more genuine portrayals of teenage girls: The anti-Juno

I have to say, though, I did like Pauly Bleeker.