Juno

I always considered the criticism of character likability to be a lower tier analysis worthy of bad television or soap operas, but it finds its way into this film with the lead, Juno. She is, by far, one of the most dislikable characters I've ever seen in a film.

The film is an inde darling about a precocious 16 year old named Juno; a tough personality dealing with a problem bigger than her own means when she finds out she is pregnant. The film is a character piece about her. Her unconventional and intimidating humor glides the story along to be funny, but the point of all the odd references is to track the gradual change when the jokes drop off and she has to deal with serious changes with her life.

That's the nice description. The accurate one is that she is a ridiculous kid who is self serving and self motivated and lacks any chance to be a decent person. The film tells her story by projecting her insane ideas and weird synopsises of life as intelligent and reflective. Her conflicts with people show her inexperience in the world and her high opinion of herself comes out with her besmudging everyone else's opinions.

The film starts to drop her condescending humor, but it still celebrates her character flaws. The father of her child, Michael Cera, tries to do good for her but she walks over him. The fact she understands he is right for at the end is meaningless. She makes no amends on the bullshit she started before. The audience is able to ignore that because the film paints other characters (Bateman, specificially) as worst criminals.

The reason why her likability is important is because the film is character motivated and wants you to believe in her as a worthy portrait in honesty and redemption. Like a cheap soap opera, the film wants you to be moved when she is and cry when she does. It's all fairy tale to think she changed that quick and that suddenly. There is an honest film to be made about a character like Juno, but it means a story that involves more hurdles and a much better context to her personality.