Easy A

Title: Easy A (2010)
Director: Will Gluck
Genre: Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Emma Stone
Rating: PG-13
92 minutes

Easy A is told through an internet stream as Olive Penderghast (a fairly awesome last name) (Emma Stone) and flash backs as she tells her side of the story in chapters. It begins when she lies about having a date with a college guy in order to get out of going on a camping trip with her friend, Rhi (Aly Michalka), and Rhi’s hippie parents. Her friend becomes convinced that Olive slept with the guy and when Olive sarcastically agrees, the school goody-goody, Marianne (Amanda Bynes), tells the whole school and now Olive is branded as a slut. Olive decides to embrace this view of her by channeling The Scarlet Letter and letting guys say they did something with her in return for gift cards. The only people who really seem to be consistently are her parents and Mr. Griffith (who I knew was going to hit on her, but you will have to see it to find out if he does) (Thomas Haden Church).

This movie is built around Emma Stone. She is able to display the wit and stamina needed for the role. The one-liners, some of which are seen in the trailer, would not have been nearly as funny if Bynes had been in the role instead. Stone has a dryness about her that differentiates this movie from so many of the other recent high school movies. She really is a funny and self-assured actress. There is a montage of her weekend that I have now watched twice on youtube just because it’s a quick funny thing to watch during dull commercials or breaks from dull studying. Should you want to watch it, search for Easy A pocketful of sunshine.

Besides Stone’s performance, there aren’t a lot of strong performances. The exceptions are Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s parents and Lisa Kudrow as Mrs. Griffith, the school guidance counselor. I have by now realized that Tucci is one of those actors who I am just ridiculously biased for. I love his performance and personality and energy. This was one reason I did not want to see him play a child murderer in The Lovely Bones. I doubt I will ever see that movie, even though I am sure Tucci was wonderful in that as well. Here he is over-the-top and funny. Clarkson as her mom is a little more reserved, but still hilarious and Clarkson and Tucci have great timing and chemistry with each other. They could be seen as too exaggerated, but the town that this is supposedly taking place in is supposed to be very small, so instead their performances help us understand why Olive is so different from her classmates.

Lisa Kudrow plays her guidance counselor very similar to her character on her character on “Web Therapy,” Fiona Wallace. Both are more interested in themselves than their charges and have no understanding about how to interact with those who seek their help. She is very funny in the view parts she has, especially when we first meet her visiting her husband in his classroom.

The rest of the characters are very lacking. Bynes’s Marianne is by no means Mandy Moore’s Hillary Faye in Saved. She lacks the dimension and her actions and conviction come off much more artificial than Moore’s. I think the character of Rhianna or Rhi was almost an afterthought. Olive doesn’t really seem to like her “best friend” and they quickly split for the majority of the movie. I also don’t really understand the point of Woodchuck Todd (Penn Badgley) character. Would it be bad for Olive not to find someone in this small and ill-fitting town to have a crush on?

My final issue with the film is a very stupid and petty one, so forgive me. Olive is almost thrown out of school for calling a girl, who called her a slut (or some synonym), a twat. She never gets in trouble for wearing clothing she literally bought at a lingerie store. I find this baffling. They try to wave it off by saying that her pants are always longer than her fingertips, but I would like to know of one school that would not take action when one of their students is essentially just wearing a whole bunch of corsets.

My favorite parts are the ones where it is just Olive talking to her computer. They are simple, but define her character and avoid the majority of unnecessary characters. The directing is not noticeable in a good or bad way. There are moments where it makes the action more fun (the montage comes to mind) and there are moments that are really very cliché (Olive walking through a crowd in slow motion once she decides to embrace her inner Hester Prynne). Overall, it is a fun movie with good wit and great performances from Tucci, Clarkson, and Kudrow and a stand-out one by Stone. If the rest of the Easy A world was as good as these actors, it would be a great movie.

****** 6/10