like I said in the other thread, a lot of it has to do with Lucas' directing in this one. The acting is just like Lucas wants it over Ep I and II. It's the style he's going for. You can tell the guy hadn't directed a movie in forever.
Also, he's a horrible editor, at least on Ep II. He cut out some scenes that would have gone a long way to making the romance between "gay boy" and "hot chick" more believable and not so, well, forced. (no pun intended.)
We have grown up, but I still enjoyed Ep I and II. I just thought the directing and editing were very subpar.