Easy A (***)
Directed by: Will Gluck
Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Dan Byrd, Thomas
Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow,
Malcolm McDowell, Alyson Michalka
Seen: January 20th 2011
*** Out of ****
From the first lines of Easy A the viewer feels something special
brewing, be it in Olive Penderghast’s (Stone) opening monologue describing
herself, or her first conversation with her best friend Rhiannon (Michalka),
discussing the hotness level of the name George as Olive tries to con her way
out of a weekend camping trip with Rhi’s hippie parents. Olive uses a date with
George as an excuse, and once the weekend is over, Olive “happens into” telling
Rhi that the date was good and that they slept together (Olive’s weekend is
shown to be far less eventful leading into this scene). Unfortunately for Olive
however, the school’s self appointed moral epicentre Marianne (Bynes) overhears
the conversation and the news spreads like wildfire.
Easy A references the classic ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel
Hawthorne, which the students are reading in English. Olive gets detention for
a comment made to one of the members of Marianne’s possie, where she confides
in Brandon (Byrd), who himself has an issue; he’s getting bullied because he’s
gay. She decides to help Brandon (not in the least because he begs her), and
they stage sleeping together at a big party; changing Brandon’s image for sure,
but Olive’s even more. She is now the school harlot, and where previously
invisible, the guys now clamour to be in her good graces. Before she knows it,
she is inundated with requests for fake “action” from guys who find out the
truth, and things gradually reel out of control.
At home she has a very supportive family, her dad Dill (Tucci) and her
mom Rosemary (Clarkson) standing by her through everything, even though it’s in
a semi-detached way through some interesting and very humorous actions. Olive’s
love life flies below the radar as she can’t seem to get close enough to the
one guy she likes, “Woodchuck” Todd (Badgley). She is approached by another guy
from school, Anson, who asks her out pretty much as she thinks that with her
new skanky reputation no-one wants to date her – and on their date the favours
for money issue arises, and for a moment the movie even turns pretty serious
here, but not for too long.
Easy A is easy entertainment and is a chick-flick that guys can also
enjoy as it is sharp and hilarious without wallowing in its “chick-flick-ness”
too much. Emma Stone successfully carries this movie without letting down for
one second and all the supporting actors, apart from maybe Amanda Bynes (who
takes the caricature a little too far), deliver great cameo-type performances;
chief among these the foursome of Lisa Kudrow (her understated seriousness
produces a villain of sorts), Thomas Haden Church (wise but interesting English
teacher), Patricia Clarkson (the cool, fun and over-sharing mom), and Stanley
Tucci (hilarious in his delivery of lines so over-the-top at times it must be
improvisation while at the same time ringing with a domestic truth that draws
you in to his actions).
Easy A is cool, it’s fun, and it’s pretty much this decade’s Mean
Girls in terms of a chick-flick offering more than expected. Go see it, you won’t
regret it.
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