Easy A is a teen comedy film released in 2010 directed by Will Gluck and starring Emma Stone. This is her most famous and probably the best performance of her career.
The story is simple. It follows Olive, a highly intelligent but socially awkward teen girl who lies to her friend that she lost her virginity only for the lie to be spread and she now acts as a girlfriend to many teens who pay her. It is very simplistic and lacking subtlety and complex themes, but it is still in concept quite original as there have never been a film with exactly the same plot. It is very amusing and entertaining from start to finish, through all of its brief running time. But however romantic it is, the ending is incredibly cliched and you could see it coming from a mile away. The whole movie isn’t typical, but the whole happy ending with coming to terms with herself and finding a boyfriend is so incredibly hackneyed.
I like the characters. Say what you will about these teen comedies, but most of them do have at least excellent and memorable characters. Olive is a great protagonist and she is not only likable, but also incredibly smart and very funny at times. Todd is a typical good guy and a perfect boyfriend whereas Brandon is a typical gay guy, although a bit less theatrical and on the nose this time around. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are these crazy lunatics with her being portrayed to such harsh points, almost as a villain. And Olive’s parents are of course crazy and unbelievably weird, especially the dad. That is what I have to say about the characters – they are all nuts. Literally crazy. There is not a single character here that is at least a bit sane, apart from Todd which is why he is the most boring character here. Yes, all of them are weird lunatics, but they are positively weird which is great as they all bring a lot of the humor to the table.
The acting is splendid. Lisa Kudrow is surprisingly good here and the actors of the parents as well as the other kids all did a good job. But this is Emma Stone’s vehicle and she steals every scene she is in. She gave such a grounded, sympathetic and powerhouse performance bringing a lot of the humor, charm and charisma to the table. She is the chief reason to see Easy A which is why I think this is her finest performance yet. However, I never bought her in this role as she is too pretty and good looking for it which means that the casting director here did an awful job.
The direction here is nothing to write home about as are the rest of the technicalities. The music is highly annoying but it nonetheless suits the movie very well. I like the tone of it ranging from mostly comedic but at times to romantic and dramatic. And I love the humor in Easy A. It is so good because, as I mentioned before, all of the characters are weird and nuts which is why they bring a lot of pathos and a humor that mixes typical teenage one-liners and awkward scenarios. The highlight is the sex simulation sequence which was hilarious in my opinion. The dialogue is mostly good with some great lines. And though thematically largely empty, the movie still brought a lot of realism. Though more comedic and over-the-top, the situations here are what usually happens in real-life high school as well. And it brought emotion in the end without being too sappy. Easy A is a tightly edited little film as well.
With a plethora of positively weird and crazy characters, superb humor, excellent situations and a powerhouse performance from Emma Stone who here gives her best work yet, Easy A fails to bring any complexity and subtlety to the table, Emma Stone is too pretty for this role and it becomes way too cliched in the end, but it is still a very entertaining and charming movie that has its fair share of hilarious lines and scenarios.
