Directed by: Will Gluck
Written by: Bert V. Royal
Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Thomas Haden Church and Stanley Tucci
Distributed by: Screen Gems
Going into Easy A I knew next to nothing about the actually movie. I had the basic premise, straight laced high school girl falls victim to the rumor mill and decides to use it to her advantage with less than impressive results. I knew Emma Stone was starring and I quite enjoyed her performances in 'Superbad' and 'Zombieland' but they weren't lead roles. That was pretty much it. I wasn't expecting much more than a PG-13 variation of the abysmal 'American Pie' straight-to-DVD sequels, it is technically a sex comedy after all. That's not what I got and I was pleasantly surprised.
Easy A centers on Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) a typical high school senior. Olive is smart, funny, pretty, down to earth and, as happens so much in high school, unnoticed by the other kids. All that changes when she lies to her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), about losing her virginity to a college guy over the weekend. Her lie is overheard by the vindictive, holier-than-thou, leader of the campus Christian society Marianne (Amanda Byne) who proceeds to spread the rumor throughout the entire school. Olive is upset about the situation at first but soon begins to enjoy the extra attention she is getting around campus. Things only get worse when she pretends to have sex with her gay friend at a party to get people off his back about being gay. This leads to her being compared to Hester Prynne from 'The Scarlett Letter' a role she takes on whole heartedly by buying a risque wardrobe and adorning each item with a red letter A. As more offers of fake trysts come in, complete with payments in the form of gift cards, things take a turn for the worse. When it all starts to fall apart Olive tries to repair her ravaged reputation by simply telling the truth, easier said than done when her 'clients' refuse to come clean. Turning to the only person who see's through her act, the school mascot, long time friend and almost first kiss Todd (Penn Badgley), she set's a plan in motion to make the entire school see the truth.
The first thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the opening credits, the cast had some surprising inclusions that had small, but excellent performances. Thomas Haden Church put's in a star turn as Olive's favorite teacher, the witty, painfully sardonic Mr. Griffith. Stanley Tucci is excellent as Olive's liberal and slightly crazy father. Malcom Mcdowell plays the stuttering, perpetually flustered school principal. Finally, and most impressive, we have Emma Stone as Olive. She has absolutely no trouble steering this movie with an outstanding performance, proving more than worthy of a lead role. Her Olive is smart, witty, funny, likable, vulnerable, kind, generous, loving and insecure. In other words everything a teenage girl should be. Easy A is director Will Glucks sophomore effort and he does a good job here, getting great performances from his cast. The script, which as far as I know is Bert V. Royals first feature, is witty, funny and really allows Stone to shine with her dialogue. The whole flick smacked of John Hughes, clearly something Royal was going for evidenced by the scene with Olive comparing her life to the Hughes catalogue of movies. If that was his goal he definitely pulled it off in style. The whole movie is told in retrospect, beginning with Olive talking to a web cam and telling her story so she can finally get the truth out there, ending where we began with the big finish to her broadcast. While not a particularly original story tool it works very well here.
I won't be doing a whole separate special features section for this review, I saw the DVD version and they are pretty paltry. All you get for your money here is a gag reel, Emma Stone audition footage and a commentary track with Gluck and Stone. A bit underwhelming really.
Overall this is a surprising little gem of a movie. It's smart, funny and honest. Stone's performance makes it so easy to actually care about Olive you become invested in her plight and her struggle to repair her reputation. It's an ingeniously written movie that is worth a look for any comedy fan.
Great review, I dragged my husband to see Easy A and surprisingly he enjoyed it too! Glad you've given a good representation of this quirky little film.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's not funny, it's quite entertaining. Actually, this movie tells a teenager story. We can see a teenager have pressures on her.
ReplyDelete