Brilliant, Funny High School Romcom That Takes The Genre For A Contemporary Spin

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2019)

I'm very fond of this film; a high school romantic comedy, one of the best of its kind, and very much one of the best of the subset of romcoms that are reworkings of classic texts. In this case, it's The Scarlet Letter that gets the treatment.
The emerging Emma Stone in the lead is brilliant; but what really makes this is the brilliant cast, fine actors in small roles everywhere you look. Of course, no one speaks as the characters do in this film - but of course, that's not the point. There are so many good gags, I keep losing count; my favourite ones being the almost throwaway jokes around the lead's kitchen table as the scene fades into the next one, taking the viewer delightfully by surprise.
It also takes many of the classic, often problematic, tropes of classic high school romcoms, and cleverly subverts them. Emma Stone's Olive is a woman discovering she can take control of her life; and the cost to her, and others, as she tries to conform to type along the way. Rewatching this in 2019, this starts to look like it was, even then, somewhat ahead of its time; it's a delightful, engaging but quietly powerful unpacking of the damage toxic masculinity has on women (and men). Well worth watching, and rewatching.