jason reitman's JUNO (2007)

months of hype and counter-hype in the wake of Sundance steeled me for Juno’s inevitable Indie Cutesyness, and in some respects it doesn’t disappoint; Diablo Cody’s much-lauded script takes occasional detours into affected sass and cringeworthy pop namedropping, and director Jason Reitman shows no more facility for the material here than on his smug misfire Thank You For Smoking, relying instead on a sloppy autopilot that lazily mimics genre touchstones. luckily, though, Cody’s work is more than strong enough overall to lead Reitman by the ear through an undeniably worthy crowd pleaser, notable not only for its uniformly fine performances (Ellen Page lives up to every bit of praise) but also the sincere emotional intelligence that makes them possible.


(from the KNOXVILLE VOICE)