“Easy A” the newest teenage comedy arrives in theatres this weekend and it could not have arrived any sooner. I have not seen a film in this genre so good since “Mean Girls” in 2004. That film made Lindsay Lohan a star. This one I believe has made another one in Emma Stone (Zombieland, The House Bunny). Only this time I see Stone going much further in the acting business and not landing herself in trouble with the law and/or ruining her career. I see real potential with this young woman.
The film stars Stone as Olive Penderghast, a current student at East Ojai High School. She is sort of an outcast if you will and her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) who is so interested in Olive’s dating life is a typical high school blonde. To get out of going camping with Rhi and her eccentric family, Olive makes up a lie to her bestie stating that she lost her virginity over the weekend to a made up guy named George. Marianne (Amanda Bynes) a devout Christian follower overhears their conversation and spreads the rumor all over the entire school. People began to start talking and Olive enjoys this new found attention, even if people are getting the idea that she is a tramp. Now being the most talked about thing in Ojai High, Olive uses this faulty rumor to help those in need. Her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) asks of a proposition where she can fake having sex with him at the most popular student’s upcoming party. Feeling sorry for all the torment and abuse Brandon receives from his co-students for his sexuality, Olive agrees. Once all over and done with, more people ask for Olive’s help at helping them to fit in or to just say they had sex with her. She does not literally have sex with her fellow classmates, only lets them tell everyone else that she did. Olive makes a bargain out of this. She agrees to do it in exchange for gift cards to all different kinds of stores including Gap and Office Depot. She ends up receiving lots of them but also receives what she describes a rip off by one student, a 20% off of bath and body works. As only Olive would say, “Don’t you think I deserve more than this, I fake rocked your world.”
Things turn for the worse when Olive is accused of having Chlamydia and giving it to Marianne’s boyfriend Micah (Cam Gigandet). This is another lie which Olive again never denies only to protect a specific person’s job and marriage to which she hides the truth for. All of these lies pile up and it is only so much Olive can take until she eventually breaks down. Todd (Penn Badgley) whom Olive has had a crush on since 8th grade is there to comfort her and knows the truth, being that she is not the promiscuous girl everyone is making her out to be.
“Easy A” features a talented cast of actors including Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s over the top yet extremely funny parents. There are many scenes of comedic gold and excellent timing from the two acting veterans. Thomas Hayden Church is well cast as Mr. Griffith, Olive’s favorite teacher. The film also co stars Lisa Kudrow as the school’s counselor. Penn Badgley is charming as Olive’s love interest and Amanda Bynes is hilarious as the over the top Marianne. I really hope Bynes is not retiring from acting because she is always charming and funny in a lot of her roles. The last funny comedy of this genre I actually enjoyed was “She’s the Man” also starring Bynes. But this film belongs to Emma Stone and deservedly so. She seems very versatile as an actress and I cannot wait to see what she has in store next. Maybe an Oscar winning dramatic role, who knows?
The film pays tribute to many of the great romantic comedies of the 1980s including “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Part of the storyline is based on the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel “The Scarlett Letter” where Olive patterns her clothes like Hester Prynne did in the novel by placing a giant red “A” on all of them. Not only is the film reminiscent of earlier works in classic films and literature; it is also very current in what is occurring in today’s society. “Easy A” is super smart and an enjoyable way to kick off the fall season. I highly recommend it.