Long ago, in the dark ages of the Internet (1997), I had aspired to become an internet movie critic. Head over to Rotten Tomatoes these days and it looks like political arts majors are now in high demand as movie critics. I sometimes wonder if these are people actually writing these reviews or some sort of huge complex Artificial Intelligence that takes contextual information and slaps it together under a guise.

Anyway, I was pressured into watching “Juno” last night. It’s not that I didn’t want to - I like pretty much anything that has the kid from Superbad (Michael Cera) in it. It’s funny, because in all the movies he’s in, he plays the same role: an awkward looking guy who kind of just stands around and looks like he’s a bit stunned. Whatever the case, he pulls it off pretty well.

So I liked Juno for the most part. The screenwriters were obviously punk / horror flick fans as they tried to mash as much hipster lingo into it as possible. While I’m a fan of neither, I could at least appreciate the attempt at trying to “Keep it real” by portraying some sort of guru-esque portrait of the main character Juno and the adopted-almost-father, played by Jason Batemen.

Things I didn’t like: Jeniffer Garner, who played Vanessa (the adoptive mother) is annoying. She also looks weird. Also, the portrayal of distance between Juno’s “normal, lower class” family and the rich adoptive parents is a bit unbelievable. They make it look like both families are completely socially out of touch with each other, enough to make awkward pauses and wonderment on consumer products. Meh.

I found Juno a bit too witty for her age, as she said some stuff that was even a bit before my generation (and I’m pushing 30). Perhaps Thundercats is making some sort of retro-comeback with the kids these days, I’m not sure. It seemed as if the screenwriters were talking sometimes, and not little Juno. She did have her cases of immaturity and rash-thinking, which at least made it more believable that she was 16.

Two scenes in particular stood out to me. One was when Juno was talking to her Dad. She asked if it was ever possible for two people to stay together. The explanation he gave was perhaps the most concise piece of advice concerning love that anyone ever could give. It boiled down to: find someone that loves you for who you are, ugly, fat, with makeup and without, whatever. Find that person and try to make it work. It’s the only way.

The second was the last scene where Juno and her boyfriend are playing the guitar together. Through some sort of space-time anomaly, I recognized the song from the Moldy Peaches. I remember thinking it was stupid. However, the two characters pulled it off extremely well - they really just had the look and feel of two teenagers who liked playing the guitar, playing one of their little songs together. They did it as a duet. This was a symbolization of the entire movie pretty much. Find someone you like, and spend time together doing what you like. They looked happy.