Easy A

COMEDY; 1hr 32min

STARRING: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes


Hot tamale: from left, Bynes and Stone

Be sure thy sin will find thee out, even if thou makest it up. When Olive (Stone) brags to her BF Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) about the faux loss of her virginity and is overheard by their Southern California high school’s Miss Christian Priss (Bynes), the gossip mill hits overdrive. Olive, who is killingly brainy, resolutely chaste and a consequent no-show in the stand-out department, is branded a tramp à la Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter, which she happens to be studying. Although disconcerted by this, Olive finds that she doesn’t mind being noticed. So when her gay buddy Brandon (Dan Byrd) begs her to pose as his bedmate to save his bullied face, she is generous and foolish enough to go along with it.

 

What comes next is a crisply put together and drily observant dissection of the perils of snap judgment and the brutality of keeping up appearances. Smart tamale Stone (Superbad ) goes the rollicking distance with all cylinders blazing. Easy A is fun, clever and fresh, and beneath the banter screenwriter Bert V. Royal and director Will Gluck have salient points to make. Which turns out to be a really bright idea.