“Easy A” is not your typical teen comedy. Instead, it’s smart, satirical and – funny. Directed by Will Gluck from a screenplay by Bert V. Royal, “Easy A” uses high school as the setting for a look at popularity, analyzing the relationship between reputation and sleaze. In our culture, sleaze and popularity (or notoriety) seem to go together. Olive (Emma Stone), a smart, pretty high school student, is tired of being virginal and boring so she tells her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) that she’s had a one-night stand with a college guy. Unfortunately for Olive, this ‘secret’ is overheard by the school’s resident gossip and religious zealot, Marianne (Amanda Bynes). Soon the news of Olive’s exploits has spread via text, word-of-mouth, and notes passed in class. After that, when she helps a gay friend establish his ‘straightness’ via a fake sexcapade, her notoriety snowballs even though her reputation has nothing to do with reality. While Olive enjoys her popularity for a time, she soon realizes that the negatives are greater than the benefits.
Emma Stone brings charm, confidence and wit to her role as Olive. She easily holds our attention even when sharing the screen with older, better-known actors. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci play Olive’s loving parents and it’s refreshing that Olive has a great relationship with them. We see too many dysfunctional families in movies. Thomas Hayden Church is Olive’s favorite teacher and Lisa Kudrow is his wife, the guidance counselor. A frowning Malcolm McDowell is Principal Gibbons. “Easy A” provides plenty of connections to 80s music and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, starring Demi Moore, from which Olive borrows the bright red A she attaches to her clothes. Although “Easy A” seems like it’s geared for teenagers, viewers of all ages will enjoy its countless jabs at pop culture and life in general. 9/30/10
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