It's interesting to me that so many of the critic reviews are negative and the audience is so positive. I saw the movie over the weekend and just loved it. When you think of a coming to age movie this is rare. This is about a sexually acting out girl meeting up with a gay kid....but this is not uncommon given that both can be outcasts. The support they gave each other; the freedom they got from each other; the strength to move forward was remarkable. The movie is about the real fact that it "can get better" for those young folks that feel so different. The critics missed the importance of this movie. Make sure you see it....it will change your life if by chance you are the mother of one of these "types" of kids. A really great movie… Expand

Of course most of the critics would hate it. Way to crass and common for the cerebral crowd. But I loved it's spirit and broad humor. The two main leads were fabulous, as was the soundtrack. Sure it was a little corny and stereotyped, but it wasn't aiming for an Oscar, just a lot of laughs and a few tears. Definitely worth a watch.

I went to a sneak peak of this movie at the Castro Theater in San Francisco and had not heard anything about it, so had no expectations. The movie is mediocre at best and after seeing the writer/director, Juno Temple, and a surprise appearance by Melissa Manchester at the Castro I wanted to like it more. The likely mostly gay crowd at the Castro hootted, guffawed and hissed, but it all felt forced. The comedy is way to broad and most of the characters are caricatures (the chubby gay boy, the hateful homophobic dad, the school bully). I too was a chubby (closeted) gay teen in the early 80's right across the Red River in Texas, so should have been able to relate, but the connection just wasn't there. Although some will find the flour-sack baby cloying, I didn't mind it and thought it could have worked in a better movie. The two saving graces I found were the 80's songs, some of which were obvious and others more subtle, and Juno Temple. There was one scene at the end between her and Tim McGraw that was truly beautiful and didn't fit in with the rest of the movie. I was kind of blown away when she came out and I learned that she is actually British. I went so far as to pull up IMDB after the show to see if I had sen her before (small parts in Atonement and Greenberg), but her work in this film, and especially that one scene, indicate the girl can act if she is given the right role.… Collapse

A classic in the making. I truly think this is a great movie. This is one of those movies that critics will be declaring as great years from now, when they finally get it. Many of the critics who are now trashing it for the most ridiculous of reasons will be retracting their former reviews. Behind the humor, great soundtrack, and commercial - yet unique styling is a profound story. The movie can go from ridiculous to hip to moving with stealth and ease. All of the characters are fully realized and every performance is stunning right down to the little sister.

Juno Temple is the greatest young actress to come along since Samantha Morton. So good that she tricks you into not realizing how good she truly is. It's a work of genius wrapped in and hidden by movie shapes and sounds that are familiar to us and as a result critics were tricked by this and responded with a knee jerk reaction, blind to the fact that this is in fact the genius of the movie. In my opinion, there's nothing better than genius disguised in commercialism because it is a way of messing with "the man" from the inside. That's what this movie does.… Expand

I just saw this movie and i just loved it..! i love Juno Temple.. if you don't liked it.. your a fool.. This is about a sexually acting out girl meeting up with a gay male and that both can be outcasts... The support they gave each other; the freedom; the strength to move on... its amazing. i have gay male friend and this movie inspired him. because he knows how hards it to come out and don't have support from some people and his own family. I believe in change and i think you can think about this and change your opinion about this movie. i know that maybe change people life! just maybe… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is an impossible review to write because this movie tries so hard to be ironically hipster retro but fails at that and more. I've tried to review the plot and the over the top cartoonish characters to no avail. Nothing I will write will encourage you that this movie has any redeeming values. This movie should honestly be rated at a 1. However there is a genuine warmth to Jeremy Dozier's overweight, quietly funny, decidedly gay teenage character looking for the impossibilities of love or fitting in or escaping his buffoonish father. Jeremy conveys the desire to flaunt his personality tempered by the realistic understanding of what happens if you do. Matching and exceeding his acting chops is Juno Temple. She transcends the writer's ideas of a teen looking for a father she doesn't know to escape a life she hates. She plays the slutish impulsive blonde teen to perfection as the movie opens up . You really just want to loathe her, but where a lesser actress would jump into scenes with whiplash she organically reveals herself as a full realistic character who is more than just an easy score.

The movie is not a laugh out loud riot nor is it a tear jerking drama. It doesn't even live in between, with somewhat predictable plot points spiced with almost surreal like detours. You know when the most original idea in the movie is a "bag of flour substituting for a baby in a class assignment" you're not dealing with the next indie breakthrough.

However I will say the bag of flour, with it's always fluctuating ball point pen emotions, is way more interesting then the most interesting thing in the world plastic bag from American Beauty. It's a cleaver little detail in what could have been a stock plot line. So what raises this movie to a 9 bleeding towards a 10? Juno and Jeremy's ability to bring realistic emotion into a movie like few others do.

Be it a scene where he bribes her into homework thru chinese food or the you-see-it-coming-but-it-still-stabs scene where she admits to spending her emergency cash. on a male stripper. for him. or his response when the actor Jeremy conveys with all the power of his acting craft that he already knew it even as he verbally denies it to be true.

There are other little touches, like when she becomes a joke to the guys at her school - being demoted to special education can do that trust me. Or when he dances gleefully in his room. The absolute best scene is the scene between Juno and her father played by Tim Mcgraw. This scene is a powerhouse of a scene. It's one of those scenes you have seen played out a million times, but never as weirdly calm and honest as this. Someone else mentioned this scene belongs in a better movie, i argue no movie can contain this scene because it's simply unique. If every scene in a movie was as raw as this we would be watching ourselves.

I don't want to get your hopes up, everyone outside Jeremy , Juno and Tim actually phone in performances. The comedy is mistargeted the drama is heavy handed and telegraphed. I am going to watch it again now even though I am not sure why. Actually I am, Juno and Jeremy make teenage circumstantial friendship real in a way that very very few movies can muster up the energy to do. These two deserve a series of better movies to trade lines in. I can see this becoming a comfortable favorite of mine. Sure it might not be the best movie ever, but the Dirty Girl has earned herself a place in my heart - just like that cute girl from high school who wasn't your friend but sure knew how to lite up your life with just a smile.… Expand

Okay, high user score and low critic score. So what gives? The critics just have very bad taste. It really is that simple. I am shocked that it got such poor critic ratings. This is a great movie, so much fun and very offbeat. Screw the critics, see this movie!

Amazing film. Witty and funny all the way through as well as emotionally charged. I loved the whole thing and would recommend it to anyone. A************