Movie Info
Movie Name: Easy A
Studio: Will Gluck Productions
Genre(s): Comedy
Release Date(s): September 17, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG-13
You have to work with what you’ve got
Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) has told a little lie. To impress her friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka), she’s told her that she hooked up with a college guy…deciding the filthier the story, the better. Unfortunately for Olive, Marianne (Amanda Bynes) spread the rumor of Olive’s tryst. When Olive agrees to lie about having sex for a gay student Brandon (Dan Byrd), she cements her reputation. Now Olive’s been labeled the school tramp, is more alone than ever, offended her favorite teacher Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church), and doesn’t know if the boy she really likes Todd (Penn Badgley) will see through the stacking lies and rumor.
Directed by Will Gluck, Easy A is one of those fun teen comedy movies more along the lines of Juno than American Pie. It was very well received by critics and Emma Stone received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
Don’t give me the stink-eye!
The movie is smart…much like Juno. It is a modern cautionary tale for kids and how rumors can quickly spread in the internet age (but in turn, the rumors are quickly squelched by the internet also). There are a lot of comparisons to Mean Girls also because like Easy A, both movies deal with the idea of cliques and how touch school can be on students who don’t quite fit in. It also is very, very smart to make The Scarlet Letter comparisons since The Scarlet Letter is still one of the most taught books around so most have some concept of what it is about.
While Emma Stone was compared a lot to Lindsay Lohan, I think she’s not only a smarter actress but more equivalent to a young Jodie Foster in movies like Freaky Friday and Candleshoe. It might just be the voice, but Stone also seems to have real control of what is going on in the scenes and manages to upstage many of the bigger actors and actresses she’s working with. With Easy A, I think it is easy to say Emma Stone is one of the up-and-coming actresses around.
At least I’ve got my own cheer section
Stone is also joined by a great supporting cast. Amanda Bynes is great as the turbo-Christian Marianne and a small cameo by Fred Armisen as her father. Thomas Haden Church is nice as the teacher everyone likes and in this type of movie you were afraid Emma Stone’s reputation might spread to him. Penn Badgley is good as the perfectly generic perfect boyfriend Todd and it is always fun to see someone play against character like Lisa Kudrow as the evil Mrs. Griffith. Olive’s family is unrealistically weird (much like Juno’s family in Juno) but enjoyable with nice performances by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson.
Easy A is a fun movie and might have been passed up as an “easy” teen comedy. It isn’t. If you haven’t seen the film, you should check it out for a fun, light comedy that both teens and adults can enjoy.
