Easy A – 4/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
Easy A – 4/5 – This is a review for a previously released blu-ray/DVD film. A film, recommended for me to watch and review before, is a film I heard was a great comedy, and I can see why. There are many kinds of comedies out there, but one in particular I thoroughly enjoy. That is satirical comedy. These kinds of comedies I enjoy because of the clever dialogue, sly humor and the ‘in your face’ look at an aspect of reality. In this case, the central plot revolves around high schools, rumors, and the risk of it all in living a sweet white lie. In the end, with some obvious clichés to battle, Easy A is a delightful but realistic tale of what a little rumor can turn into.
Premise: After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne’s in “The Scarlet Letter.” What she decides to do is use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing. Along the way, a lesson in humility is learned, and finding out that it is just better to just, be yourself.
At the center of this is the main character Olive. She is played by up and coming actress, Emma Stone. In this role of a girl outcast, she plays her as precise as anyone can. Caught up in the little white lie, she uses it to her advantage (in a rhetorical aspect) and causing a downward spiral of her high school life that is funny, slick, but very raw, real and vivid. Her perception of reality is shrewd, but is brought to us like colors in a painting. You see expressions, desires and charm for irony in Olive, but also someone who beats with her own drum. This is great, and shows layers of quality and depth to the actress’s interpretation of a girl surrounded by typical high school drama. She also helps slant perception of society, showing a more ‘common sense’ approach, when dumfound is the norm and ignorance is bliss. It might seem way to dire to show this, but it also gives ‘realism’ to her approach in the movie. When it comes to the supporting cast, there are some interesting names layered throughout the film. You have the parents; Stanley Tucci as the Dad and Patricia Clarkson as the mom. They provide another quip to the comical side of the film, but give us heart when needing a moral compass. They also show where Olive’s personality comes from. You also have Olive’s teacher, played by Thomas Haden Church, the guidance counselor, played by Lisa Kudrow, the Bible loving student Marianne, played by Amanda Bynes, and the not so typical high school crush Todd, played by Penn Badgley. Just like the parents, they help provide sharp and complex entries for a movie revolving around ‘high school’ clichés, diving into distinct perspectives to the obvious notions of gossiping in society. In doing this, they help provide more than just one-dimensional characters of a comedy, showing us meaning to the sometimes annoyance of beliefs, structure and attitude. The most obvious annoying display of life goes to Amanda Bynes character, Marianne. She provides the ‘religious’ aspect to the film, but is sometimes way over the top and obnoxious, providing a biased against aspects of ‘faith’. Everyone else not mentioned above help provides a good layering to social aspects, but nothing more than envelop along with the direction.
The direction of the film starts off in the basics of any kind of comedy. You have the traditional build up of the main character(s) back story and generic life. From this simple intro, it leads to the starting point of the films premise. In this particular movie, the premise is the ‘rumor’ of Olive losing her virginity. From this, antics ensues, and what actually develops from the seemingly ‘teenage comedy’ is a deeper satirical aspect of gossip, high school drama and the dynamics of the human psyche. This seems a little far fetch for a movie dealing with a typical premise, but the film entices another side to the idea, and builds upon how lies can change perceptions, feelings, and friendships. Through the satire, we get an enormous amount of witty dialogue that helps the audience settle, laugh and soothe through the scenarios built from scene to scene. This also helps become attach to Olive and her ‘quest’ of being more than just an outcast, and expose the dark side of humanity. Along this way, people’s perceptions grow even deeper into blindness, because of additional lies added to the first ‘losing your virginity’ lie. As the spiraling continues with the lie, it shows a breakdown of Olive’s life, especially when it comes to her interpersonal relationships with her best friend, teacher, and family (to an extent). You see the complexities of how things turn, even when some know that everything is just a smokescreen. What these entangling web leads to be an endeavoring climax. This climax helps connect the narration (by Olive herself) to the wholeness of the story, making you see truth in guile and humility. The morality of the movie also shows the glaring of ignorance, obliviousness, and social blindness, even when the film was a comical ride.
Much of the visuals were stationed in the backdrop of a typical high school. This helps add a silver lining to the film, adding a degree of fascination of what is developing through the film. This fascination surrounds the underlining tones to the obvious ‘clichés’ of cliques in everyday America. The score was sediment to the story, helping you feel when emotions are meant to be felt.
Overall, Easy A is more than just another comedy. It is a satirical perspective of high school, life and the reality of being yourself, even if you’re an ‘outcast’. Emma Stone does a great job in her role, as well as the supporting cast helping portray this ‘white lie’ to the audience, in a comical way. I would recommend this to anyone a fan of comedies, with a morality code. This is one for you.