Easy A

Agreeable teen comedy about Olive, a girl who pretends to have sex in an effort to boost her reputation. High school story is a humorous interpolation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Winning script is generally successful, but it’s undermined by illogical behavior. Olive’s best friend Rhiannon encourages her to sleep around, then shuns her when she thinks she has. Jesus freak Marianne castigates her at school, then unconvincingly becomes Olive’s closest buddy later. And don’t forget the boy smitten with her.  He doesn’t seem even remotely concerned with Olive’s promiscuous reputation. Nevertheless, actress Emma Stone is appealing as the lead and because of her charm, the movie succeeds. Her sardonic attitude makes Olive sort of the adolescent equivalent of Chandler Bing on Friends.  With all the self-aware 80s nostalgia, the dialogue sometimes feels more like the voice of a middle aged writer than a girl in high school.  But her sarcastic one-liners do make the snappy dialogue shine.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s liberal parents are really amusing too. Easy A scores a solid B.