Sassy and witty high-schooler Olive Pendergast (Emma Stone) navigates the halls of her superficial high school virtually unnoticed, until her life takes a turn for the scandalous.
Spurred by her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Machalka), Olive comes up with an outlandish lie about how she spent her weekend with an older boy, to who she lost her virginity. The rumor spreads faster than wildfire and by the end of the day Olive is known as the school slut, catching the attention of the school’s Christian student group lead by Amanda Byne’s Marainne.
The web only gets more complicated as Olive agrees to help tormented gay classmate Brandon by agreeing to pretend to have sex with him at a party attended by all of their classmates. From then on, Olive becomes the ‘go-to girl’ for oddball classmates attempting to escape the ridicule of their judgmental high school. Olive decides to make a business out of her reputation, receiving money and gift cards from her classmates in return for pretend sexual favors.
Coincidentally, Olive’s English class begins reading the “The Scarlet Letter,” and Olive begins to identify with protagonist Hester Prynne as she finds herself ostracized from her high school. Olive even goes as far as to sew a red ‘A’ into her provocative clothing which she wears proudly.
Emma Stone shines in the main role of Olive, her lines are delivered with a witty, yet believable nature that helps to add to the likability of her character. Olive is not just another weak high school girl who gets consumed by a bad situation. Olive has agency and by the end of the film drives her own destiny, creating her own happiness while delivering the message that what a girl decides or does not decide to do with her body is her own choice.
The supporting cast also does a delightful job in the film. Most notably is the over-the-top Christian Marianne. Amanda Bynes plays the unhinged Marianne with such delight that sometimes she is dangerously close to stealing the limelight from Olive. Marianne, while consumed in her own effort to be perfect and ‘god-like,’ doesn’t even recognize the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of her own actions.
“Easy A” highlights both the good and the bad within high school and also teaches the timeless lesson of how one lie can turn into another, causing a huge scandal—at least in high school. “Easy A” provides commentary to the dangers of technology in the modern age and how information is now so easily accessible. “Easy A” is sure to be a cult classic among “Mean Girls” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Reporter Kenna Egbune at Ikenna.egbune@colorado.edu.
1 comment
I really want to see this movie! It sounds really good! :-)