Easy A Review

• 21st Feb 2011

As many a review has professed, Easy A is indeed an easy A. It contains all the elements of a teenage-girl rom-com but, and to quote my male better half “I wouldn’t mind you having that on your shelf. Not my shelf, your shelf.” Now whether that means he is going to have the lads round to watch it with a bottle of red and a group manicure I just can’t say but it does seem to suggest that unlike the Clueless/Mean Girls/Legally Blonde-s out there, this film has appeal across the board with men, women and I dare-say children alike.

Easy A is unique in that it’s a rom-com with very little in the way of romance. It follows the misadventures of Olive (Emma Stone), your average, forgettable high school student who decides to give herself a name by starting a less than becoming rumour about herself: that she is a slut, a whore, a tramp, a harlot. It is not before long that she begins to use her enterprising young mind to earn big bucks (or store discounts) through selling herself to the school’s bedroom duds to give them a bit of much needed street-cred. Or at least selling a story, because the ‘sex’ is about as virtual as the reality in which the story is based (I’m sorry but there’s no way students really gossip like that!!!)

It’s a pretty standard premise. Olive soon finds that she’d rather the whole world didn’t form a lynch mob to end her sluttish ways and confesses the whole thing via webcam. What sets Easy A apart from other girlish high-school romps is its characters, idiosyncratic and unique as you could hope for. Olive’s parents especially are a joy to watch, even if they are the product of wishful thinking. No one’s parents would possibly be so relaxed and simultaneously supportive over rumours that their daughter has been ridden more times than the village bicycle. The supporting characters are a bit of a change from the norm, with the film’s ‘bitch’ Marianne spending more of her time worrying about Olive’s fate in the afterlife than her social standing.

Chuckles abound but there isn’t much in the way of rip-roaring hilarity, consigning Easy A to the section of the collection reserved exclusively for nights with Ben & Jerry (or Jack Daniel/Sailor Jerry if you prefer). The DVD comes with a thin spattering of extras, the best of which is a standard enough commentary from director Will Cluck and Emma Stone.

Dani Singer