Easy A

I know what your thinking. Why would I go and see a movie that on the surface looks like yet another Juno ripoff. If you've seen the trailers and if you have an idea about actress Emma Stone's ability to charm your pants off then you, like me, would not have hesitated to see this movie regardless what the pundits were saying. It's a good thing I did too because not only was it funny it also cleverly tripped down John Hughes lane soaking up all of the greatness that was the 80's.

Olive (Emma Stone) is just trying to get by in High School but one little white lie to her gabby best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) about a hook up with a college kid turns her into the class slut overnight. This balloons into further lies that cast the young Olive even further as a harlot with comparisons to Hester Prynne from the Scarlett Letter. Olive gets cast in the role as whore from the Class religious nut Marianne (Amanda Bynes), who constantly tries to make Olive's life a living hell for her perceived sins.

Couple of things that work off the bat for this film is first, the writing. It's sarcastic, funny and snappy and I'm sure it will be highly quotable at some point. The second is Emma Stone who takes the material and runs with it, yes she's feisty and brash like Juno but believe me when I tell you they are very different characters. Emma Stone is sexy Ellen Page is cute. Nuff said! Also her parents were hilarious. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci had some of the funniest lines in the movie. In fact they were so good you could do a sequel about her parents and their very interesting dynamic and it would probably do very well. You also had some great support from vets like Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow. I think the closest thing to compare Easy A to at least in writing and style is the done too soon Veronica Mars that aired on the CW a few years ago. They dealt with the rumor mill and the sucky nature of high school in similar ways. But both protagonists get by with their wit, charm and sarcasm. It's a fun ride as you watch Olive's fake lifestyle spiral out of control until she decides to set the record straight.  Ironically the only knocks on the film were things I also got some amusement out of. They played the reference and nostalgia card well on early 80's romantic comedies but there were times where they hit you over the head with them. I'm not going to give the ending away but they make a pretty blatant ripoff of a classic cheesy comedy with a certain Patrick Dempsey flick from that era. It was harmless but I did utter a little groan as if they probably went a bit too far. But all of that aside, the film has a lot of heart and some great laughs and I highly recommend for a good time, especially as a date movie.

Grade: 3 Buckets