Review: Easy A

Easy A
Director: Will Gluck
Date of Release: September 17, 2010
Summary: After a lie of her losing her virginity spreads around school, girl next door Olive decides to use this to make herself more popular with expected hilarious results.

AKI: I totally want to sew an “A” on every piece of clothing I have and maybe dye my hair red and wear slutty outfits. “Easy A” is the best teen flick I’ve seen in a long time…perhaps since “Bring It On” (the first one, all the others are crap). Emma Stone (as Olive) has excellent comic delivery, and unlike some self-centered comic characters, you actually like her and feel really bad for her when her phony-sex plan starts to backfire. Her parents, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, steal the show! You know the type of parents who can make fun of their African-American adopted son but still be funny and loving? I don’t either, but those parents are in this movie and they are awesome! The only downside is that you will choke on the overabundance of John Hughes’ movie references. But for keeping me laughing throughout the entire 90 minutes - Easy A, you are forgiven. * * * * 1/2

RYAN: I wanted to watch this movie because it had a few of my favorite veteran actors such as Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson and while those two latter actors DO steal the show as the easy-going cool parents, it was relatively newcomer Emma Stone who was the breakout star of the film. The success of the film as a John Hughes-inspired teen-style high school comedy was squarely put on Stone's shoulders and she carried the film spectacularly with her unassuming yet charismatic presence. The film itself had plenty of laughs and heart to fill its 92 minutes of running time. If I had one complaint, it'd be the underdeveloped and broadly written supporting characters (excluding her parents) which were still enjoyable enough. But again, this was a star vehicle for Emma Stone and it was a tricked-out BMW playing Natasha Bedingfield. * * * *