Tout pour un A

Greetings again from the darkness. This is an obvious (and proud of it) homage to the great teen films of John Hughes. It is updated for this generation of teens - replete with FaceBook, texting and webcam. While this one may not have the fully realized characters of the Hughes films, it actually takes things a step further in its commentary on many topics: family life, parenting, religious zealotry, rumor-mongering and the public education system.

Writer Bert V. Royal's script delivers an intellectual and comedic look into high school life ... told through the eyes of the smart, "invisible" girl. Just a brief overview will be offered here so as not to take away from the multiple layers.

Emma Stone ("Zombieland", "The House Bunny") delivers a star-making performance as Olive. Forced into a faux-confession by her best friend, Olive experiences the efficiencies of digital gossip spreading as word leaks regarding the apparent loss of her "V card". Even though this one is based in Ojai, California, it's nice to know that high school promiscuity is still met with a certain stigma. Here that stigma is compared to Hawthorne's expert novel, The Scarlet Letter.

This sets into action a series of unforeseen events. The school's religious nuts, led by Amanda Bynes, take Olive's situation as a personal affront and spend a great deal of effort trying to punish her for her sins. At the same time, the geeks and dweebs view Olive as their savior and proceed to take advantage of the opportunity.

While she is presented as a very sharp-witted, well-grounded teenager, Olive experiences the enormous power of a reputation. All of this is balanced out by her extraordinary relationship with her free-spirited, yet wise parents played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci.

I can't possibly do justice to the script or the numerous topics broached, but I will say that it's a welcome new approach to teen movies. The usual schlock sex is replaced by sharp quips and real pressures. Do note that the dialogue is filled with much harsh language that wouldn't be welcome in an environment other than a high school campus. Further support work is offered by Penn Badgley as the good guy, Thomas Haden Church as a new world cool teacher, Malcolm McDowell as an old school principal and Lisa Kudrow as a guidance counselor (in a role that gives me permission to feel the disgust I usually feel when she is on screen).

Don't be scared off thinking this is another lousy teen flick. It is instead an insightful comedy that plays well for adults and teens. While you may not agree with all of the social observations, I believe you will agree the film is presented in a most entertaining and insightful manner.

Through much of the beginning of "Easy A," you have to find all the '80s teen comedy homages fishy. Maybe director Will Gluck and Burt V. Royal are trying to dress up a classic Hughesian formula with modern banter and social media references. Then, somewhere near the halfway point, comes the admission. Olive, played by up-and-comer Emma Stone, confesses she wants her life to have a "Sixteen Candles" or "Breakfast Club" or "Say Anything" moment. Ah, and suddenly this is homage territory -- much better. Like the rest of this hip, fun and surprisingly touching comedy, any time "Easy A" wanders down the path of cliché, a killer line or great scene nullifies it.

It all begins and ends with Stone, who can do a little bit of everything, which ought to ensure her a long career. She can do typical teen comedy lead autopilot/earn our sympathy, she can command the improvisation-like tangential dry humor that has defined the comedies of the last five or so years and she can be the sensitive, fragile Molly Ringwald type. Nothing feels forced or unnatural in her performance. She seems to be having fun and milking to goofy nature of Royal's script.

More importantly, the reason "Easy A" is so good is because it never stops being about Olive's story. A high school nobody, Olive lets her best friend (Alyson Michalka) pressure her into lying about losing her virginity. The simple lie gets overheard by the super-Christian Miss Everybody (Amanda Bynes) and suddenly everyone sees Olive differently, or sees her period. After deciding to embrace the attention as school slut (the story reaches here a bit), Olive then starts to pretend to have sex with guys in need of a reputation boost, which consequently sullies her own.

The only real problem with "Easy A" is that there's no good reason to believe Stone was this unattractive nobody given her actual attractiveness and the friends she has -- and we're supposed to believe that suddenly everyone is interested in her because she lost her virginity. Gluck tries to spin this into a positive by making it almost comical how everyone is staring at her or waiting in a perfect line for her to come down the hall, but it's the one scratch in this gem -- take it or leave it. The script and humor and situations that arise eventually more than make up for this road bump.

Gluck's filmmaking is hip and common of modern comedy while the writing is clever and spontaneous. For no logical reason, a scene when Olive's gay friend Brandon (the one she helps first) comes over, Stone and Patricia Clarkson, who plays her mother, do this quick exchange of pretending they're in the Old South and a boy has come over and asked for her. Though completely random and a bit forced, they actually work well at making the characters seem more organic, which is the challenge of most comedies, especially those made today.

Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as the parents are the comic relief. When was the last time parents in a teen comedy were genuine comic relief? They walk a fine line between wacko and genuinely caring and loving parents, but it totally works. Two more originally funny parents haven't existed on film before. Characters such as the aforementioned best friend Rhiannon and Bynes' are more by-the-book as far as being teen comedy stencils, but like every other small flaw with the film, they're covered up by all the multi-dimesional and more interesting ones. Worthy of mention are school faculty members played by Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow and Malcolm MacDowell.

Most intriguing of all is how the film actually succeeds at finding moments of genuine drama. A few well-thought-out and creative plot twists introduce an intelligence seemingly foreign to these kinds of comedies. The key once again comes from staying focused on Olive's story. The film is structured as a retelling with narration from Olive, so it's told in a reflective manner, which ultimately keeps it from veering off course. It's about Olive wrestling with this lie and her feelings about how she wants to be perceived, along with her understandable pity for the boys who request her "services." High school's rough and reputation seems to be everything. Some elements of the high-school experience in "Easy A" might be way off, but that's dead on.

Although it lacks the intangible innocence of the numerous '80s comedies it references, "Easy A" has a unique and lively spirit of its own and is the best teen comedy (at least featuring a female, finally!) in years. More importantly, it shows that the modern teenage sense of humor and good storytelling don't have to be mutually exclusive.

~Steven C

I think this is one of the best movies of the decade. Emma Stone is awesome and such a great actress. The story is impressive and super truthful to American's high school current reality. The Story: Olive Penderghast is a normal high school student just trying to "blend in the crowd". At some part, she says she lost her virginity to a boy in community college and everyone starts to call her a "dirty skank". Then, she starts dressing like one and pretending to have sex for money. This girl just wants to find true love but anybody would ask her out. The movie ends in a high note with a precious lesson: don't worry about what the others say about you. Just live your life. Such a great movie. I do really recommend it. :) :)

It's always nice to see a comedy that doesn't meander around the same stupid gags insulting my intelligence time and time again. I was very happy to see a different kind of teen comedy that was much more sophisticated than the films it branches from and even parodies in many creative ways. Easy A is about a typical high school girl named Olive (Emma Stone). Olive has never been popular and has never really been noticed by anyone, and I don't see why considering Emma Stone is absolutely beautiful but that's beside the point. Anyway, Olive, without thinking things through, starts a little white lie about losing her virginity. This lie spreads to the rumor mill and spreads throughout the whole school ridiculously fast, which is one of the bigger themes of this movie that focuses on a lot of the necessary flaws of high school, one of the most incessantly emotional periods of our lives. Obviously, the rumor quickly gets out of hand and Olive's reputation as the school slut grows. Instead of backing down here, Olive exploits the rumor mill for her own social and financial gain, as guys pay her to pretend to have sex with her. The themes and criticisms of high school life in this film are valid, but thankfully they aren't overbearing and the entire movie becomes a laugh out loud blast.

First off, the dialouge of Easy A is surprisingly great for a film set around these kinds of teenage archetypes. It is much more intelligent sophisticated than the typical pandering you hear coming out of the mouths of teenagers. It adds a whole new level of respect to the film that keeps it very lively and fresh. But the dialouge isn't cocky, thankfully, and I never got the sense the writer was trying boast his wide vocabulary. He went a totally different route, and used it to the advantage of more characterization. Olive is much smarter than her peers and her language reflects that. There are plenty of other characters in the film that obviously don't come close to her sophisticated insight into the world and are the true bimbos and airheads. Their dialouge is much more typical of a teenager, and it reflects a very distinct level of characterization that had hilarious results. Needless to say I felt much smarter watching this film than some of the other crap I've subjected myself to in recent years.

Easy A also has a great variety of characters. Olive is already a very fun character who leads the story perfectly, keeping it interesting all the way through. But then there are other characters like Amanda Bynes as Marianne, the Christian nut job of the school. It's obvious to see where a person who boasts about premarital sex versus a religious zealot is leading, and these two characters are hilarious to watch interact with all their snappy and quick witted dialouge. The male roles are arguably the weakest of the film, but its not as big of a deal when the whole story primarily focuses on the social interactions between high school girls. Gossip is obviously a huge part of the story. But apart from the younger cast the older cast also fall into some hilarious roles. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci play Olive's parents and there isn't a moment with these two on screen that you aren't laughing your head off. This duo plays off each other so well and it makes for some of the most hysterical scenes of the whole film. Then there are other great adults in the film like Thomas Haden Church as the fast talking and sarcastic English teacher who you can't help but love. Malcolm McDowell even cameos as the school's principal and has a couple of short but funny scenes. Overall you couldn't ask for a more fitting and entertaining cast.

Overall, Easy A doesn't provide anything groundbreaking or revolutionary to the comedy genre, but it is certainly a breath of fresh air that keeps my hopes alive for the comedy genre in this age where there are so many god awful comedies being released. Easy A isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The story sort of becomes a mess towards the end and it seems to be going off on a lot of random tangents. And then it is all resolved rather simplistically for how all over the place it was. I also have to say that the moral compass of all these characters, especially Olive, is pretty out of wack. Some of the decisions are a little strange and seem ridiculous at times, but I guess it only reflects the naivety of a teenager, and how much we still have to learn. But overall you can't complain too much when you are delivered an overall satisfying and hilarious experience.

Just saw this with my daughter who is 13. She has just recently seen all the John Hughes 80's movies (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, etc.) and said it felt just like one of them. I couldn't agree more - great direction and just a hint of a wacky feel to it. Realistic, fun and interesting *normal* parents that don't take the world too seriously and want to be there for their kid.

The only parts that didn't hold up was a couple of logistical things (like a girl that good looking not having any guys following her around, and having a best friend who is such a ditz). All in all though the plot stuck together, was edgy in a few ways, and thoroughly entertaining. I'd put it on the shelf right next to the John Hughes films, and that is a distinguished place indeed.