Easy A Review

I'm glad that I saw this one with a friend on Netflix on a hot summer day in Laredo. As well as being exposed to Emma Stone who I had a crush on. Speaking of, this is the film that really helped her career in Hollywood which really blossomed. With that, Easy A is one of the best high school movies in the 2010s. SPOILERS will appear in the review.

To begin with, the movie is told in a non-linear way. It starts with the main character Olive played by Stone, recording herself to confess on acts that she did in high school. From there, we see Stone and her friend in media res at high school. Rhi played by Aly Michalka, who I haven't seen since Disney Channel's Phil of the Future, asks Olive what she did in the weekend. Since, she told Rhi that she was on a date. She actually spent the entire weekend singing "Pocketful of Sunshine".

That's when Olive tells a lie and it spreads throughout the entire school. Amanda Bynes appears playing the religious nut Marianne. Which prompts her to tell her clique of what happened to Olive. I kinda like how the use of the camera zooming past a few students then stopping to show just how far the lie travels. So Olive's reputation changed and gets some looks from some guys.

It all comes full circle when her teacher Mr. Griffith played by Thomas Haden Church is lecturing the class on The Scarlet Letter. Along with the various motifs from the book that appear in the movie that we see. Olive receives detention by calling a classmate a twat and meets with the only gay student in detention. The school’s idea of detention is they are forced to clean various areas of the school. He wants her to come up with a ruse that will allow him to be taken seriously since he’s been bullied.

The two plan and go to a party and fake having sex, which inadvertently leads to Olive being called any possible verb or adjective that is insensitive to women. Rhi gets jealous, again. Claiming that Olive is being called a slut. Which prompts Olive to be offended and create a closet full of provocative clothes that make her look like a skank.

 It’s head scratching that Rhi has a reputation of being so vicarious with her personal life that we never seen the stuff that she’s into. Specifically, she gets wary that Olive is unintentionally one upping her in terms of getting on with some guys. Which leads into my only gripe with the film. Though, you can hear it.

The dialogue doesn’t feel right. It is okay but, when hearing high school students talk, just what they’re saying isn’t how they really talk. I can attribute it to Juno having a very grown up way of teenagers talking grown up. When they, you know, talk and act like teenagers. That’s really the only gripe I have with the film.

Soon, Olive has guys help them with their reputation in high school and are gifted with gift cards. Mr. Griffith is concerned that maybe Olive is committing the Scarlet Letter book too much. I love this since, he’s oblivious that the whole getup that Olive is wearing sort of involves the book. It only reaffirms her reputation in the high school. Speaking of.

The whole reputation motif is literally beaten over the head in this movie. I swear any character uses the damn word that it’s not even subtle. Thinking about it more, it makes sense since the whole film takes place in high school.

So, Olive and Marianne becomes friends. That only lasts for just mere moments since we see a series of shots where they are friends. Until Marianne’s boyfriend got an STD and says that he got it from Olive. Which results from the friendship to end ever so briefly. I was shocked and not expecting when Lisa Kudrow’s character was the one who gave the boyfriend chlamydia.

Just to make it short, Olive tries to find ways to tell someone anyone that she lied about the whole thing. She tells a boy that she actually liked about the thing and comes up with a way to confess with what really happened. Which leads us to where the film began with the recording. 

I feel what is overlooked is just the idea of telling the truth. Olive tries at least to tell the truth when her friend Rhi keeps blabbing about her personal exploits with boys. As well as when she visits a confessional booth when she realizes no one is listening. More so when she tries to sort of not really tell her parents the truth but just commits to the lie. 

One actress who would be the last person I would have seen is the actress who played Miranda in Lizzie McGuire. I'm pretty sure that she was too old to play a high school student. But I won't fault her for that. 

Overall, Easy A is probably one of the best high school movies that manages to be different than most of its contemporaries. What sets itself apart is the commentary. I feel its nuance now but its nowhere near as good as any John Hughes' high school movie. For what it is, I applaud it and possibly in a few years, it'll be considered a classic. 

Easy A gets a four out of five.