The hamburger phone was a gag used to make her seem hip, but it really shows how the cool care too much

10. "Juno"
I heard too much about this film before I saw it. I heard that it's great. I heard that I'd love it. I'd heard that the dialogue is quick and witty. I heard that the soundtrack was great. I heard that everyone that saw it liked it, regardless if they were 40 or 14. On Sunday I read the first piece of criticism that didn't like the film at all. Jim DeRogatis wrote the piece and it was on the cover of the Showtime section of the Chicago Sun-Times. You can read it here.

I tend to agree with the article.

DeRo's piece, well at least the reason for the piece, is to review the soundtrack. He gives it one out of four stars, not because the music is bad, but because it's unrealistic. Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches appear more than any other artist. She's 35. The liner notes, according to DeRo, quotes director Reitman saying, "a patchwork of homemade sounds made by teenagers whose sense of humor and honesty rang through the crappy tape recorder they were using to capture their chicken-scratch lyrics." That's total bullshit. Most teenage groups, at least all the one's I've heard, sound like shit and only their friends like them. And that's just fine. Teenagers that I work with, specifically the ones that are juniors like Juno, like what's popular on the radio, their friends bands and bands they've seen open for bigger bands at shows. Few have heard of Kimya Dawson and none of them sing her songs with their boyfriend or girlfriend on their front steps.

The film's voice isn't wholly original. Write Diablo Cody gives Juno almost all the good lines, but she doesn't seem that realistic. I get that she's a clever little S.O.B., but she really only shows emotions in three scenes. Ellen Page plays a 16 year old. Female. That's pregnant. A more realistic portrayal would have her all over the map in most it not all scenes. The supporting cast also seem to be too cool for their own good, everyone except adopted mother Jennifer Garner.

"Juno" never had a chance with me and that really sucks. Maybe it's because I'm too old. Maybe it's because I work with teenagers and pregnancy isn't funny, at least where I work. Maybe it's because I'm tired of 'cool' characters. I really don't know what it is.