Easy A Offers Easy Laugh, Star in the Making By Art Byrd

In the 80s, there was teen movie after teen movie. The good ones were The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles. They were made by the late great John Hughes.

Now in 2010, there is a coming-of-age movie that looked good enough to attract me as an adult. The movie is Easy A and the actress in it who caught my eye is red-haired Emma Stone.

I have seen Stone in bit parts in Superbad, The House Bunny and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. This is the first time that the almost 22 year old is carrying the whole movie. She does it well. First, she is a throwback to Lucille Ball. Stone has a unique look -- she not overly beautiful, but with her wide blue eyes, bright smile and like Ball, her distinctive red hair, she is adorable and funny.

Stone plays Olive Penderghast, a high school student who flies under the radar in the popularity department. One afternoon, she is talking with her best friend, Rhiannon, played by Aly Michalka (Disney 365), who is a gossip. Olive tells Rhiannon a harmless story about hooking up with a college student. She makes the story out to be more than what Olive said.

The story is heard around the school. The once unknown Olive is now the school floozy.

Olive receives attention she never had before. Then she takes her reputation to a new low by pretending to have sex with her gay friend, Brandon, played Dan Byrd (TV’s Cougar Town), at a party with an audience outside the door. She wants him to gain a reputation and escape being bullied.

Now Olive is labeled as easy. She embraces the label by embroidering a scarlet A on her clothes, mirroring Hester Prynne, the character ridiculed for adultery in the book The Scarlet Letter, which Olive is studying in school.

Then other guys start to plead with Olive to up their reputation by saying she made out with them. They offer gifts cards as payment. The situation gets out of hand.

I like that the movie deals with Olive’s situation in a real way.

Two highlights of the movie are Olive’s parents, Rosemary and Dill, played by Patricia Clarkson (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia, The Devil Wears Prada). They were witty -- kind of like hippies with a coolness that shows affection toward themselves and Olive. They showed that Olive had a good, stable home life.

There is one scene with Olive, her parents and her adopted brother, Chip, played wonderfully by Bryce Clyde Jenkins (My Homework Ate My Dog). This really showed the closeness of the family.

The movie also has real romance between Olive and Todd, played by Penn Badgley (TV’s Gossip Girl), who has secretly liked her since they were kids. Turns out that she feels the same way. Despite all the madness in Olive’s life, he is there to give her strength.

The movie has a great supporting cast. Two standouts are Amanda Bynes (TV’s What I Like about You) as the righteous religious girl trying to condemn Olive, and Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3), Olive’s favorite teacher who is trying to work within his bounds to understand the new Olive.

Emma Stone is a star in the making. Easy A showcases her comedic talents with a sprinkle of drama. The film is an easy laugh, but one that shows how a small fib can explode into a big lie.

Edited by Michele Ristich Gatts