I almost didn't want to write this review because it would mean that I would have to spend time explaining to everyone why I only partially liked this film (not that anybody is reading this anyway). Juno is one of those films that everyone raves about and will look back and say, "Remember when Juno came out? That like, totally changed my life." Maybe I'm just too old, too cynical, or just too dumb to see what's so hyped about this film. The first half was really hard to get through, but the second half really got to me -- in a good way.

Juno (Ellen Page) is a quirky (sorry, I hate that word too) 16 year old plagued by boredom as all quirky teens are. She's part Tom-boy, part sex-pot (as far as Tom-boys go) with too much sarcasm and too much time on her hands. Soon enough, she finds something in another quirky school-geek Bleeker (Superbad's Michael Cera) and they get busy one boring day. Alas, the uneducated teen gets pregnant and now Juno must now decide between keeping it, abortion, or giving it away. No spoiler here: she decides to give it up for adoption to a yuppie couple played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.

As I said before, the first half was really not all that enjoyable. We're forced to listen to the writer patting herself on the back with hip, hot, teen lingo like totally to the max, ya dig? It's like they took a Gilmore Girls episode and just slowed it down so we could understand Juno's oh-so-clever sarcasm and punctual wit that nobody in real life ever has (don't ask me how I know what a Gilmore Girls episode is like). Ok, so, fine Josh, you're don't like hip dialogue. Get over it. Ok, so I did.

When Juno finally is about to pop, the drama really sets in and she has to grow up fast. That's when the tide turned for me. She got over her own self-absorption and cynicism for life and started to act like an adult -- which, I suppose was the whole point of the film, but still, do we need so much gibberish dialogue to get to that point? My internal groans during the film say no.

On the plus side, Ellen Page holds this strange, mysterious hot-ness that can only captivate you (the males in the audience at least). She's sweet, sassy, motherly, and every other Freudian overtone you can think of. She just works. I won't ruin the ending for you, but let's just say, her growing up and realizing what she has in life made the film really come together and finally struck an inner chord with me. While much of the film is trying way too hard to be a quirky (damn!, sorry again) indie film, it manages to pull the right strings in the end. 3 stars for Ellen Page being so damn adorable.