Easy A

Moral of the story: Every girl in America now wants to be Emma Stone. She's funny, she's awkward, she's gorgeous, she's a young Tina Fey. If anyone else had been in this role, this movie would have completely sucked.

Apart from Emma Stone, the best part of this movie is how hard it tries to steer clear of other movies while at the same time attempting to directly mirror all the cheesy '80s movies ever made. Olive (Stone) even opens the film talking about how this isn't a coming of age film. But after reflecting on her love for '80s romances the film ends with flashbacks to Say Anything and The Breakfast Club.

The movie focuses on Olive and her supposedly questionable morals. Olive lies and tells her best friend Rhiannon (Aly from that Disney Channel group Aly and AJ) that she slept with a random college boy over the weekend. This boy did not exist and the montage of what Olive actually did over the weekend was much more excellent. She is overheard by Amanda Bynes (super Christian Marianne) who spreads the news like wildfire. She is then asked by a gay friend (Dan Byrd) to pretend to have sex with him at a party so people will think he's straight. Basically chaos ensues, lives are ruined, Olive reads the Scarlett Letter, Olive randomly wears a red A on her chest, Olive loses friends, Penn Badgley is quirky and endearing etc.

Three complaints:
















1) Amanda Bynes. Big disappointment. I think she can be pretty hilarious when she tries (note She's the Man), but nothing about her character was comical. I don't know what she did with her face, but it was definitely heavier than normal...and of course, that's all I could focus on the entire time. Also, she was supposed to be a part of this super Christian group that was more offensive than realistic or comical. I was expecting her to channel Mandy Moore in Saved!, but I guess she tried her own thing...it just didn't work.

2) The red A's. I have no idea why Olive incorporated these into her wardrobe other than the fact that she had recently read the Scarlett Letter and could identify with Hester Prynne. It just seemed a little over the top and didn't add to the story.

3) This is the first time I've ever hated Lisa Kudrow. I won't offer details and ruin the movie, but in the words of Fantastic Mr. Fox, she's a big cuss.

Random positive notes: Thomas Haden Church is hilarious. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are two of the coolest parents ever.

Fun Facts:

This is reportedly Amanda Bynes' last film before retirement. I hope not, since it was a weak exit.

In the original script, the "F"-word was used 41 times, the "S" word was used 13 times and the "C" word was used 3 times. The uses of these words were later cut down in the final script so as to receive a lower rating of PG-13 (the movie's target audience) as opposed to a rating of R.