Easy A Movie Review

Easy A



Grade: A

This is a very funny and very charming movie, while at the same time it does a great job of exploring some of the challenges that face teen-agers today. This is the story of Olive, a surprisingly mature young woman, who gets caught up in a string of mistruths regarding her virtue.

As the school rumor mill perpetuates the stories….Olive finds herself in a similar situation as Hester Prynne in the Scarlet Letter (which they are studying in their literature class). Using Hester as her inspiration, Olive escalates the rumors by dressing the part. A quick trip to Victoria Secret and a little bit of hand sewing and Olive now looks the part with a scarlet A emblazed across her collection of new corsets.

Olive is played by the marvelous Emma Stone. Emma completely captivates the camera with a maturity beyond her years. She makes Olive totally believable and likeable. I anticipate a very busy future for this young actress.

I loved her parents, played by Patricia Clarkson and the always amazing Stanley Tucci. Their quirkiness somehow makes Olive’s viewpoint and maturity completely believable. They also have some of the best lines in the movie.

I really can’t wait to see this movie again. Some of the dialogue is so funny and clever, but it flies by so quickly, that you can’t really remember it.

While watching this movie I felt that if John Hughes was still alive, this would have been the kind of movie he would have directed. I clearly wasn’t alone in this thought as the scriptwriter and director were paying a little homage to John Hughes when Olive says, “Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80’s movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he’s got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80’s movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But, no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life.”

Clever, clever movie.