Comedies like Easy A are a tough cookie to grasp, as they go in various different directions comically and dramatically. Easy A goes from a broad comedy style to at some stages a black comedy style. My gripe isnt with the film's execution of these styles but rather the film's mixed mood and atmosphere.
Olive (Emma Stone) a high school student, begins to get a raunchy reputation when she pretends to sleep with a gay friend of hers, to stop him from being bullied because of his sexuality. This soon leads to other boys seeking her help to pretend that she slept with them. Olive soon starts to lose friends, get unwanted attention from her teachers and her parents. Olive as a result of her own actions or supposed actions, begins to unravel some interesting secrets about several people around her.
I found Easy A's first twenty minutes to be quite unfunny and uneven but the film does find its way. The first section of the film is all over the place and has lots of rapid dialogue that is kind of nauseating. But the film excels and improves vastly when it settles down and we get to know Olive, played superbly by Emma Stone. Stone is very sarcastic and intelligent here and she is both funny and more importantly likeable. Her parents are also played amazingly by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson. Both of these veteran actors play the roles as zany and kind of loopy, but in the best possible manner. The film also has many things to say about a teenager's freedom of sexuality and the bullying that occurs under many different circumstances. These elements are lightly touched on but there is some power and bite behind them.
Easy A is very funny in places but it's never consistently funny at any stage. The funniest parts of the film are when Tucci and Clarkson are on-screen. Stone is a charismatic lead and her role in the upcoming Spiderman reboot should elevate her even higher and it's much deserved. I loved the film overall buts its slow patches stop it from being a real winner.
RATING:
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