She comes off as genuinely precocious/savvy on her own merits, and not by virtue of winking author references to obscure subcultural ephemera, as in Juno. ("Wow, this Herschel Gordon Lewis flick is better than Dario Argento's Suspiria! And I loved that Sonic Youth mix CD! [more indie/b-movie/trash culture insertions]" blah blah etc etc)
Since _Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_ was made in the pre-ironic, pre-Cultural Studies 70s, you don't have to suffer through line after line of passive-aggressive putdowns of other people, the artificial insertion of eccentric characters who serve mainly as an outlet for the writer to display of more of what Mike Judge called smirking Murray-isms, or other hackneyed, painfully contrived modern indie hipster flick staples.
Oh, and the soundtrack doesn't suck. _Juno_ at times seemed like one big commercial for a soundtrack. _The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_ is not interrupted by a maudlin folk-rock song every 3 minutes.
-B.
I wrote:
"Here is my problem with Juno: In a recent interview, Mike Judge (_Idiocracy, King of the Hill, Office Space_) complained that too many writers today substitute wry, droll sarcasm for humor. That's why he tries to avoid smirking sarcasm in his characters (except when he's sending up the convention). 'It's like every writer wants their character to be Murray from the Mary Tyler Moore show,' Judge complained. Everyone says something 'wryly,' or is 'a droll wit,' and is also somehow quirky. Juno exhibits way too many smug Murray-isms, but with a dollop of post-_Ghostworld_-ness on for good measure."