Movie Review - Easy A

Easy A (2010)

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgely, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Alyson Michalka, Malcolm McDowell, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Will Gluck

A case of raised expectations seems to have ruined Easy A for me.  The heaping praise from nearly all the critics upon its release had me thinking this was going to be much better than it actually was.  Sure, there were great performances all around and some wit was on display, but in the end, it felt like a story that never really went anywhere and never really caught my attention despite the presence of the cute and charming Emma Stone.

Like a modern-day Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone is Olive (the Hester Prynne of the film), a high schooler who is pressured into saying she had sex in order to make herself "look" better to her best friend (Alyson Michalka).  Rumors spread quickly in high school and soon the clean cut (though witty and wry) Olive is finding herself enjoying the attention she's receiving.  Instead of trying to squash the rumor, she begins to make the lie even bigger, pretending to become the school slut because at least "the slut" has a place at the school rather than her old role as "just another face in the crowd."  Needless to say, things get out of hand and start getting hurtful to the good-hearted Olive and she must attempt to climb her way out of the hole she dug for herself.

The problem with the film doesn't lie with Ms. Stone who, in her first major starring role, is certainly an amusing and funny presence onscreen.  Perhaps my biggest issue with the film is with the characters surrounding Olive.  While it's true that none of the actors playing the caricaturish supporting players are bad, their roles are laughably one-note.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson bring great humor to the roles of Olive's parents, but their characters seemed so incredibly fake.  Similarly, all of the students at Olive's school -- from the Christian goody-goody (Amanda Bynes) to Olive's gay friend -- are characters we've seen before (and written better) in other films.  Once again, great acting from everyone all around, but the characters they had to inhabit were simply disappointing.

The film flounders and wanders aimlessly and its short 90-minute runtime feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is.  Overall, Easy A was a disappointment that doesn't deserve the praises that were bestowed on it earlier in the year.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-