Honestly, I don't mind Anakin being a whiny lovesick teen in AOTC. When I first saw that movie, I was 16, and I was feeling pretty much the same way at the time. What needed to be done, though, in my opinion, to make him more compelling, is to show that he's more than that. When push comes to shove, he has to show himself as a mature and capable Jedi who puts his duty first. That was barely touched upon in the movie. There wasn't much of an arc. He started out as brash, and he ended up as brash. Even when he was being heroic, he was being arrogant. And something that piqued my interest early in the movie was never elaborated upon. When Anakin and Padme meet with the queen on Naboo, Anakin is asked his opinion of the situation, and Padme totally cuts him off and disses him at the same time. There's a tiny bit of tension, but by the next scene, it's all romance and hugs and flowers again, and this power struggle is never brought up again. That would have been a whole lot better. They love each other, but they are both very strong and somewhat controlling people who both want to be in charge, and it causes sparks, maybe similar to Han and Leia but more serious. Plus, it would set up something of a shaky relationship for the next movie. They are truly in love, but there's an element of distrust and always that one little seed that could cause destruction at any moment. And since Anakin's original motivation for turning to the dark side was a lust for power (before the ridiculous turn evil for love thing), it might work better with Anakin having previously been shown to fight others (including his wife) for power and authority over situations.

My other thought is that it might have worked better had the roles been reversed. Rather than Anakin being the chaser, and Padme being the voice of reason, it should be the opposite, with Padme almost being a temptress. So then the main conflict wouldn't be "she loves me, she loves me not," but it actually would be, "Do I go with my feelings, even though I know I shouldn't, or do I act on them?" And, like Padme did in the actual movie, he should reject her on logistical grounds but have his decision inwardly torture him for the remainder of that storyline. But once again, there's no conflict the way it is now. Anakin doesn't have to make a choice. He's already made it when he sees Padme in his very first scene in the movie. The only conflict is getting her to feel the same way.

And, of course, I always have to wonder what in the world Lucas was thinking when he set up this love story as an encounter between a 14 year old girl and a 9 year old boy?! I can live with the five year age difference, but I find it hard to believe she would have fallen for him when her earliest memories of him are of him running around yelling, "Whee!"