Easy A
When the theatre lights go down to signal the start of the witty, wonderful high school comedy Easy A, the spotlight is quickly switched on and Emma Stone enters its warm glow in almost clumsy fashion. After that, it doesn't take long (seconds, maybe) for Stone to take over and make the movie all her own. Playing usually invisible student Olive Penderghast, whose little fib about losing her virginity over a weekend becomes a life-changing rumour that spreads through the school in mere moments, Stone is utterly electrifying in her ability to command the camera and make us laugh with something as simple as a facial expression.
Olive's lie is forced from her lips by best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) and it all comes from an innocent place at first. Inventing her weekend tryst in order to provide an excuse to not have to go camping with Rhiannon and her super strange parents, Olive sees little harm in letting her virtual virginity vanish. But when the rumour spreads ("like wildfire," as Olive notes), her identity and status within the microcosm that is high school society is instantly transformed.
Guys begin paying attention to her and it suddenly seems everyone's talking behind her back, except for conservative Christian Marianne (Amanda Bynes), who voices her fears for Olive's soul (and potential damnation due to sexual promiscuity) directly to Olive's face. Things grow even more complicated when Brandon (Dan Byrd), a gay student simply trying to survive the high school hell, approaches Olive in hopes that she'll play along with a rumour that he had sex with her, thus dispelling the rumours of his homosexuality.
After some coaxing, Olive goes along with it, feeling that she might as well embrace her new claim to fame in the midst of a lot of high school sneering and jeering. Acting as an intriguing and well-referenced backdrop to Olive's experience is the fact that she's studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter, about a woman whose affair in a small village leads to her ostracization. The woman is then forced to wear a red A embroidered on her clothing in order to announce her adulterous actions.
This kind of literary influence is rampant in Easy A, which takes inspiration for its title and Olive's eventual wardrobe makeover from Hawthorne's novel. Even Twain's tale of Huckleberry Finn is referenced in a manner that is both funny (more than once) and impressively imaginative. Art imitating art, perhaps? But then there's surely some imitation of life at work here, too. Director Will Gluck and screenwriter Bert V. Royal take the high school setting seriously and the movie is ripe with subtext regarding the sexual politics that plague the school's hallways.
From Olive's supposed metamorphosis into someone apparently "easy" to Brandon's acceptance by those who used to bully him once his homosexuality is successfully covered up, it's clear that Gluck and Royal are making the point that high school, much like the world outside it, is all about appearances. It's certainly not a new observation, but it's delivered here with verve and vibrancy. The students are either trying to hide in the shadows or step into the spotlight, but so many of them are wearing a mask, hiding their true identity in fear of being ostracized.
When Olive begins to dress in a manner that seems befitting a woman of her pseudo status, her appearance has guys drooling and girls glaring. She's suddenly a beacon of attention because she's a walking fantasy, unleashed and unavoidable. But the newfound attention, while fun at first, begins to push Olive into a different version of the outsider position that she occupied before. There's really no way for her to not be ostracized. She either hides her sexuality and is ignored or lets it all hang out for everyone to see, resulting in fame and notoriety.
In both scenarios, Olive is on the outs and it's up to her to navigate these specific challenges. After all, she's the one who got herself into this mess. Now she has to get out of it. Easy A makes the journey from conflict entry to eventual exit an exciting and energetic romp that never forgets to be funny and insightful on its way to the finish line. There are tons of hilarious moments that stem from school situations or even endearing family activities, enabled by the great Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, who play Olive's wonderfully wacky and loopily lovable parents.
Gluck and Royal even have the audacity to repeatedly reference the great high school comedies of the 80s (most of which came from the mind of John Hughes), to which Easy A will inevitably draw comparison. Including clips and later paying tribute to specific scenes from movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Say Anything (the only one of this bunch not made by Hughes), Gluck and Royal make no attempts to hide their cinematic inspirations. But while it's a bold move to make the comparisons so obvious, they successfully tie the homage to the identity of their movie, allowing it to find its own voice in the midst of well-placed nostalgia.
Since that voice belongs to Emma Stone, Easy A is a hugely successful entry in the subgenre of high school comedies. Now I've come all this way without returning to Stone's great performance, to which I can only say that I've left the best for last. There's much to enjoy in this movie, but it is Stone who seals the deal. She makes every moment breathe and she knows how to expertly and honestly sell each comedic beat, if it's a montage of an entire weekend spent singing along to an annoying (but catchy) pop song or a seemingly simple line delivery. She's hilarious and unique and entirely unforgettable. One of my favourite movie-related experiences is watching an actor explode on screen and become larger than life and impossible to ignore, making their next move a joy to anticipate. That is exactly what happens with Easy A. Welcome to centre stage, Emma Stone. It's so good (SO GOOD) to finally meet you.
