Easy A film review
Although it certainly won’t change the world, Easy A puts wit and intelligence back into the high school comedy subgenre. If you enjoyed the likes of Bring It On, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You and Mean Girls, you’ll get a kick out of this tale, which, unlike many sex-centred teen comedies, places emphasis on playfulness as opposed to crassness.
Emma Stone heads up a very likeable cast as mature-for-her-age Olive Penderghast. For some inexplicable reason, the appeal of svelte and witty Olive is lost on high school boys and she’s a social nobody until a rumour spreads that she’s lost her virginity. From there the little white lie mushrooms into a reputation-destroying web of dishonesty. However, for Olive even bad attention is better than no attention at all, and she revels in her notoriety – donning suggestive outfits, pasting a Scarlet Letter onto her clothes (inspired by her English set novel) and pretending to bed many of the school’s saddest outcasts to help boost their social standing. Of course, Olive soon learns there are some serious downsides to being the school slut, whether it’s pretended or not.
In Easy A, it’s definitely a case of realism being stretched for entertainment purposes. Olive is incredibly quick witted and sassy, even when talking to authority figures. Meanwhile, her parents – played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson – are the ultimate in movie I-wish-these-were-my-folks cool: playful, frank and always 100% supportive. Tucci is fantastic as always but it’s great to see Clarkson embrace her funny, light-hearted side for a change.
Easy A is also an enjoyably self-aware teen comedy. There are many references, blatant and more subtle, to John Hughes’s classic 80s comedies and other brat pack movies from the era – including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and even Risky Business. It’s certainly fun playing Spot the 80s Teen Classic.
It’s debatable how much a male viewer will be able to identify with Olive’s dilemma in Easy A, and therefore be amused by the film. It’s also highly unlikely that born again Christians will be pleased with the movie, which, without fail, presents evangelicals as fickle, judgemental and wilfully ignorant hypocrites. Amanda Bynes is a lot of fun though as borderline caricature Marianne Bryant, the leader of the influential Christian student body.
There’s nothing much more to say about Easy A really. The film loses some of its comedic momentum as it approaches its conclusion but it doesn’t detract much from the overall enjoyability. Easy A is a piece of fluff – a lightweight amusement that will keep you chuckling gently for 90 minutes, and then see you leave the cinema with a smile on your face... even if your mind hasn't exactly been stretched.
Emma Stone heads up a very likeable cast as mature-for-her-age Olive Penderghast. For some inexplicable reason, the appeal of svelte and witty Olive is lost on high school boys and she’s a social nobody until a rumour spreads that she’s lost her virginity. From there the little white lie mushrooms into a reputation-destroying web of dishonesty. However, for Olive even bad attention is better than no attention at all, and she revels in her notoriety – donning suggestive outfits, pasting a Scarlet Letter onto her clothes (inspired by her English set novel) and pretending to bed many of the school’s saddest outcasts to help boost their social standing. Of course, Olive soon learns there are some serious downsides to being the school slut, whether it’s pretended or not.
In Easy A, it’s definitely a case of realism being stretched for entertainment purposes. Olive is incredibly quick witted and sassy, even when talking to authority figures. Meanwhile, her parents – played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson – are the ultimate in movie I-wish-these-were-my-folks cool: playful, frank and always 100% supportive. Tucci is fantastic as always but it’s great to see Clarkson embrace her funny, light-hearted side for a change.
Easy A is also an enjoyably self-aware teen comedy. There are many references, blatant and more subtle, to John Hughes’s classic 80s comedies and other brat pack movies from the era – including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and even Risky Business. It’s certainly fun playing Spot the 80s Teen Classic.
It’s debatable how much a male viewer will be able to identify with Olive’s dilemma in Easy A, and therefore be amused by the film. It’s also highly unlikely that born again Christians will be pleased with the movie, which, without fail, presents evangelicals as fickle, judgemental and wilfully ignorant hypocrites. Amanda Bynes is a lot of fun though as borderline caricature Marianne Bryant, the leader of the influential Christian student body.
There’s nothing much more to say about Easy A really. The film loses some of its comedic momentum as it approaches its conclusion but it doesn’t detract much from the overall enjoyability. Easy A is a piece of fluff – a lightweight amusement that will keep you chuckling gently for 90 minutes, and then see you leave the cinema with a smile on your face... even if your mind hasn't exactly been stretched.
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