Easy A

High school student Olive Penderghast (Stone) finds herself caught up in her school’s rumour mill when she decides to help out her friend Brandon (Byrd) in fabricating the loss of his virginity at a party. Bolstered by Brandon’s newfound popularity, other boys come to Olive for similar favours and build her scandalous reputation. Propelled from a virtually anonymous student to the most disreputable person in school, Olive has to find a way to avoid being expelled by the Christian legion of students and fight for her own happiness before it’s too late.

Emma Stone leads the star-studded cast with a gifted, sardonic performance, easily drawing laughs from the audience with her goofy and unaffected manner. Equally brilliant are her parents (played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson), whose upfront attitudes reflect those any teenager would have loved to have at home. The writing of the film draws out the pangs of adolescence without being melodramatic, and manages to address contemporary teenage issues with just the right dose of wit.

Sharp as a knife, Easy A is reminiscent of classic teenage hits such as Mean Girls or 10 Things I Hate About You with its sassy humour and brilliant sarcasm. It even has a touch of John Hughes about it in the way it treats teenagers seriously and draws us into the world of high school so seamlessly. This is one teenage comedy that isn’t afraid to be bold, brass, and in-your-face – a welcome relief from more recent offerings of the genre. Be prepared to see yourself in some of these characters but fret not; there is no way you will leave the cinema without a smile.

Ana Paula Pereira de Souza