EASY A (Sony, 2010) D: Will Gluck, w/ Emma Stone, Penn Badgley. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NN Rating: NNNN
Easy A’s fresh story and surprising humour put the boots to the high school movie’s sniggering obsession with losing one’s virginity, and bring it kissing-close to the likes of Heathers and Rock ‘N’ Roll High School – teen classics with teeth.
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Olive (Emma Stone) lies to her best friend that she’s lost her virginity. The news is all over school in an instant, with embellishments, which leads her to embrace her bogus notoriety and begin having pretend sex with lots of guys. Parents, teachers and Christian loonies are concerned.
Stone makes Olive a smart, funny and sane kid who gets her outlook from dotty parents beautifully played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow as the movie’s other adult couple deliver more sharp humour, much of it owing to Church’s dry, wait-a-beat delivery.
Director Will Gluck’s two favourite words are “cadence” and “rhythm,” according to Stone in their shared commentary. This explains key aspects of the humour and is one of the commentary’s two interesting facts. The other involves lobsters on movie sets. Stone and Gluck don’t care for commentaries. They let us know up front and go on to prove it.
EXTRAS Commentary, gag reel, Stone audition footage. Widescreen. English, French audio. English, French, Spanish subtitles.
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