Easy A

Easily Adulterous

This movie tells teens, don’t sleep with anybody, but say you did. This is what Olive, played by Emma Stone, does throughout this movie. When Olive’s obnoxious and foul mouthed best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), demands that Olive must have lost her virginity over the weekend spent without her, Olive lies to shut her up. This lie is overheard by Bible-thumping Marianne, which causes this lie to spread through the school causing the entire student body to start paying close attention to Olive as she is now viewed to be available. When we see Olive confront Marianne about the rumor she is acknowledged with this exceptionally great conversation,

Marianne: “There’s a higher power that will judge you for your indecency.”
Olive: “Tom Cruise?”
Marianne: “You've made your bed... I just hope for your sake, you've cleaned the sheets.”

When Olive’s gay friend, Brandon (Dan Byrd), comes to her after having learned the truth and asks her to have a fake hook up with him, giving him instant straight status, she agrees. When Brandon tells his friends about the favor, they also want help and are willing to pay generously for the fake flings.

Olive soon realizes that there is a difference between being available and being the school slut. As it so happens, they are reading the book The Scarlet Letter, the book is summarized very well throughout the movie in case you have not read it. Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter is forced to wear a red A on her clothing as a symbol of adulteress behavior, which Olive takes the initiative and embroiders an A on all of her clothing to make this title of “School Slut” to a whole new level.

Emma Stone plays the role of Olive, the clean cut high school girl that tells a white lie which spreads like wild fire. You may recognize Stone from Zombieland, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and Superbad, as she plays this role with as much great humor as the rest, but now mixed with a clear and meaningful message.

Aly Michalka, known from Hellcats, is seen playing Olive’s foul mouth best friend. While Amanda Bynes is recognized in She’s The Man, What a Girl Wants, and Big Fat Liar, she plays a drastic change from her normal psychotically chipper characters to Marianne, the Bible-thumping girl that spreads the rumor school wide. We then have Dan Byrd from A Cinderella Story and Cougar Town, playing Olive’s gay friend that urges her to have a fake hook up with him to boost his status in this hell known as, High School.

This is defiantly a comedy, as well as a bit of a romance. The movie is great for many different age groups, just remember it is rated PG-13. Appealing to many people, mainly high schoolers, but also anyone that happens to have hated high school as there is a bit of advanced word play throughout this movie, which is not something you would be likely to see from many of today’s teens, it is still easy to follow. This movie makes for a great movie to see with friends, family, or even a date.