Review by Loc
It will never fail to reappear: the heart-warming high school comedy. The legendary John Hughes perfected the formula with 80s classics like 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Since that time, you’ve had more updated takes that fail to warrant remembering. Flicks like American Pie and Superbad treaded closer to the raunch-comedy genre while something like Juno sticks to overly clever writing and indie appeal to strike a chord with audiences. So what if you take the original formula and try it today? Quick hit: solid results.
Easy A stars Emma Stone, star of the aforementioned teenage flick Superbad. She was also in Zombieland and you’ll soon know her way too well as Gwen Stacy in the new Spider-man reboot. Only, she’ll now be blonde instead of her trademark red-headed ways, but really, who cares. Back to Easy A, which Stone inhabits as the smart, sassy, but relatively anonymous Olive. She’s managed through high school as a very good student without many enemies and a few good friends. Her best friend is Alyson Michalka, who is a former Disney star and now the cheerleader on Hellcats. Once again, I’m providing you with trivia and asking the same rhetorical question, who cares!?
Being the good, anonymous, safe student, Stone doesn’t make it out much but again, isn’t a social outcast. Strangely, this flick plays off being a normal teenager as being…normal. Novel idea, it’s true. After bailing on Michalka’s weekend camping trip, Stone comes up with an elaborate lie to escape the playful wrath of her best friend: she had a date. One overheard conversation in the bathroom later, Stone has been branded as a teenage floozy by the Bible-thumping Amanda Bynes. Rumor spreads like wildfire, Stone enjoys the attention and finds an opportunity to help other needy, nerdy, geeky types by perpetuating the myth, and soon enough, we have ourselves a full-blown hysteria.
Where this flick falters slightly is in the easy-come-easy-go attitude of Stone. Part Juno, Stone exhibits an uncanny ability to not only deal with the onslaught of negativity, she thrives off of it with witty, snarky comments. She fends off all comers and suffers no ill effects that a normal mortal would experience. Instead, she defiantly sews on fabric “A” letters to her outfits in honor of the literature she is studying, The Scarlet Letter. This tone keeps the film light, but seems a little bit off, especially when we’re focused on the hypersensitive lives of high school teenagers.
Outside of that, everything works pretty well. The cast is full of strong performers, from Thomas Hayden Church to Lisa Kudrow to Stanley Tucci to Patricia Clarkson. Seriously, Tucci has perfected the obviously smart, confident-but-humble, too-cool adult role. You can find it in The Devil Wears Prada, Julie and Julia, and now Easy A. The kids are very good as well, from Bynes to Penn Badgley as lifelong crush to Stone, and the aforementioned Michalka.
Overall, this is a fun flick to watch. There’s a great nod to the 80s classics, complete with appropriate clips from the originals. The underlying romantic interest for Stone is underdeveloped and seems randomly inserted for the final 30 minutes. However, it fits the rest of the film, as nothing seems to matter except Stone’s smart and witty responses to whatever situation she just created for herself. Out of 50 imaginary dates, Easy A solidly passes with 35.
Rated: 7/10
