“Easy A,” the latest in the inexhaustible string of silver screen interpretations of the travails of the American teenager, is a charming, feel-good film. Directed by Will Gluck,† it tells the story of Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone), a self-aware and wittily observant high school student, who is shunned by her peers after she decides to embrace false rumors about her promiscuity.
Her ordeal begins when she lies to her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), about sleeping with a college boy and is overheard by Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes), the head of the school’s devout Christian organization. Marianne, in true adolescent fashion, proceeds to run her newfound piece of information through the school gossip mill and Olive gains overnight high school notoriety.
When she confesses to a friend, Brandon (Dan Byrd), that her weekend tryst was a fabrication, he jumps at the chance to ask her a favor. As a gay student, Brandon is the subject of merciless bullying and is desperate to fit in, so he pleads with her to pretend to sleep with him so he will appear straight. She obliges, and the ploy works.
Armed with good intentions, she is soon providing similar assistance to various outcast male students at school. As a result, her reputation for promiscuity is cemented and she is forced into social exile. Rather than deny the rumors, she defiantly assumes her designated role by purchasing a brand new, lingerie-centered wardrobe and sewing a red “A” on to all her clothes.
Her action is inspired by her English class’s reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,”† where a woman living in Puritan Boston is spurned by her community after committing adultery and is forced to wear an A-shaped badge as a symbol of her crime. Nevertheless, Olive quickly discovers that the social repercussions of her satirical self-martyrdom are hard to endure.
Despite the difficulties Olive faces as a result of her newfound infamy, the mood of the film is overwhelmingly debonair. The story is narrated by Olive, who recounts the truth behind the rumors to her peers via webcam. The movie’s highlight is undeniably the performance of Emma Stone, who delivers Olive’s clever insights and witty remarks with perfect timing.
This is important, as the film’s comedy is dependent on a string of one-liners.
The plot also contains the requisite love interest, in the form of Olive’s middle-school crush, Todd (Penn Badgely), who remains Olive’s steadfast ally throughout the film. The film only takes a truly serious turn in its treatment of the adultery of a school counselor (Lisa Kudrow), who is married to Olive’s English teacher (Thomas Haden Church).
The presentation of their story appears to be an attempt on screenwriter Bert V. Royal’s part to add some weight to the plot; yet, the gravity of her actions is awkwardly out-of-place in relation to the film’s generally upbeat mood.
In keeping with a decades-old Hollywood tradition, “Easy A” presents a rather warped version of life in high school. The ëJesus freaks’ are a little too out-there, everyone appears to be well-dressed, and the pep rallies turn a little too interesting.
However, the level of condemnation Olive endures as a result of her perceived promiscuity is annoyingly exaggerated.
The high school rumor mill is always in motion, and the turnover rate for scandal is fairly high. In reality, tales of Olive’s sexual exploits would not command much attention, and it is hard to imagine that mere promiscuity would lead people to react in such a persecutory fashion. High school students can certainly be judgmental but, despite the film’s references to “The Scarlet Letter,” they are not quite so puritanical.
“Easy A” is not without its weaknesses, but overall it is a well-executed film. While it is unlikely that it will find its way on to the shelf of high school classics, it is certainly worth taking the time to see.