Easy Girl

Easy A stars Emma Stone as she takes on the role of a very different type of High School student who, despite the image she acquires throughout the movie, endures her tribulations with astounding indifference. If Emma Stones character wouldn't have carried with her that perpetual gleefulness, the movie might have just moved in a completely different direction. Though the movie was undeniably a comedy, I could not help but ponder over the dark undertones that loomed in the background of all the comedy.

Olive is an outsider, as we quickly pick up when she spends her weekend chanting ''A Pocket full of Sunshine'' alone in her room. For some, this may well be the most funny part of of the movie; for me, it was sort of depressing. To me, it emphasizes her lack of a social life, and it is how I felt when I first saw the part. I understand this is far from how most others perceive this part of the movie, but anyways...

Olive is also incredibly intelligent, and her snappy and witty retorts stay with her all throughout the movie. She leads a distanced life but appears to be a contended, courageous and confident girl with little social angst. Her relationship with her laid back parents (who were, by the way, one of the funniest proponents of the movie) is open and genuine. With a sudden lie to her best friend, Olive's life transforms from being an overlooked girl (which appears a little strange judging by her look, but im digressing...)into a whirlwind of exaggerated rumors,boosting her image into someone of a more than, to phrase it nicely, liberal sense of promiscuity.

The movie itself was great. Don't get me wrong, it did contain many funny moments and was distinctly comical. However, I myself saw potential in the movie to be meaningful, and for a movie to be meaningful, it requires realism. I hardly think the scenario presented in Easy A resembles real life. Characters were, at least mostly, very stereotypical and flat. OK, maybe not all of them. Anyways, I hope you get my point. As far as Olive goes, I had just one critique, which is once again digressing from the comedic theme of the movie. I couldn't quite grasp how lightly she took her mortifying daily life. (Potential Spoiler!) How did she just suddenly become a beauty goddess brushing off guys with a sort or royal indifference when it wasn't even clear if she had ever kissed a guy before. An innate confidence, maybe? Just a few things to consider from my point of view, none of which really interfered with the comedic scheme of the movie.

So, let's talk of the comedic value of the movie. Honestly, I didn't have awfully many ''laugh-out loud'' moments. Probably (and here we go again ) because of the dark undertones whose probability of being explored by the writers I failed to discard throughout the entire movie. I think that if I would re-watch the movie with a more comedy-oriented mindset it would indeed be funny, but its first impression on me was undeniably thought-provoking. Taking aside all of the stereotypical clichés, I really think this movie has something to say.

Feel free to disagree with me. Maybe I'll re-watch the movie and jump to a different conclusion.

June 2 2010 - saw advanced preview of "Easy A" tonight. Emma Stone plays sarcasm great in this one, and supporting cast works well with her. Emma also narrates heavily throughout, and though not rolling on the floor funny, this has the feel of a John Hughes film (even makes reference to him in a longing way). Thomas Haden Church is funny as the only teacher we really meet, and Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are well cast as the understanding and 60's hippy mentality parents. The crowd I saw it with laughed frequently, and there are a lot of "I've been there" or "I've seen that" moments that you can relate to from your own high school. The writing is a little bit above the age - that is to say, you'd be surprised to hear the advanced dialog coming from today's teenagers, but this movie worked for me and those with me. Makes for a fun night at the movies. Scheduled for release Sept 17 2010.

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.

What drew me to this film were the cast, on paper this was a great cast capable of great performances. And that's exactly the case watching Easy A. While there is nothing groundbreaking and while the cast drew me in initially the concept was a kind that was kind of interesting but could've gone either way.

That said, Easy A is lushly filmed with the cinematography and colour palette simply lovely. There is also a sparkling score, a good well-paced story, strong direction and a likable assortment of characters.

The two components of Easy A that really worked were the script and the cast. The script is not only fresh, but very funny too. In the cast also, I don't think there was a single cast member I didn't like, the first time in a film in a good while that's happened.

Emma Stone is truly charming and a breath of fresh air, while Amanda Byrnes with her witty humour is a hoot. Stanley Tucci gives one of his better performances in recent years and Patricia Clarkson is equally delightful. Thomas Haden Church is also hilarious, and it was really nice to see Malcolm McDowell again.

Overall, a funny and charming film and easy to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Easy A is another in a long line of high school rom-coms that feature actors who are much too old for high school. It is one of those things that you have to suspend your disbelief on from the get-go, and I was almost able to do that. My only stumbling block was Emma Stone who looks exactly the same as she does now, so trying to see her as a teenager was tough. Another thing that I struggled with in this film was the frustrating portrayal of Christians. As a Christian myself, I can admit that these types of judgmental jerks exist, but sometimes it feels like that's all we see of evangelicals in film. Aside from that small clique, though, I do wonder if promiscuity is seen as such a negative among teenagers nowadays. Somehow I feel like this entire movie would be a non-story if it were to occur in the modern day. The film is almost built like a period piece set in my childhood years, or like it should be taking place in a highly conservative southern state, as homosexuality is also presented as a huge shame factor. I think all of these things are less of an issue, particularly in a California high school in the 2010s.

However, if you let all the nitpicky flaws go, and just accept the movie for what it is, I found Easy A to be a rather charming and cute little film. The story draws a lot of inspiration from The Scarlet Letter, and does a great job of talking about that in the film. They aren't trying to hide what they are doing, instead it is a major plot point that the students are reading that book. I liked the acting performances, in particular all the adults in the film. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci stood out in a great way, because they play non-traditional parents that kept making me laugh. The story has a number of humorous moments, but I was always looking forward to when those two would return for extra comedy. And in addition to the jokes, Easy A has all the other things you'd expect from a teen rom-com. They have a romantic arc (even if it is a tad under-developed,) some high drama moments, and even a moral to the story. I'll also admit that, despite the fact that these movies always seem so rote to me, I was genuinely surprised a couple times with this one. Easy A might not be one of the greatest movies in its genre, but it's a solid film that I would watch again.