Juno how it is

I saw Juno yesterday, and I LOVED it. I'd heard all the criticisms going in: that it's just another "quirky" indie movie, that Juno is an unlikeable character and it feels like we're forced to care, and that the dialogue is contrived and ridiculous. So I was prepared not to like it totally. But I did.

It was another quirky indie movie, that is true, but I'm not sure why we should then write it off. The dialogue argument is just stupid. Yes, you can find it annoying, but there are tons of movies with stilted, contrived, or "unrealistic" dialogue. Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, even those old movies where the leads just flirt in the most witty of ways have contrived dialogue. And Juno was completely likeable to ME; she was clearly doing that whole "too cool to have feelings" thing that all teenagers do to some extent, and if you can't see that, well, you're not particularly emotionally intelligent.

Part of the reason I did like it so much, though, was because no one had hyped it to me beforehand. I heard lots about Little Miss Sunshine before I saw it, and so, even though I did like it, I didn't really get why people were so over-the-top in love with it.

Joy and I had a thing a couple of years ago where we liked to say that the key to a good relationship was "low expectations." We would tell this to people and they'd look at us funny and argue that maybe we meant "realistic expectations." But either way, it's the same thing. Don't go in expecting things that can't possibly be delivered, and maybe you'll be surprised and pleased in the end.

So, all that to say, you probably won't like Juno. Keep telling yourself that.