Smart but a bit smart for its own good.

Rating: 6/10 (18 April 2011)

It's refreshing to see a teen movie that is actually for teenagers and is not diluted to appeal to young girls. Just like how it was in the eighties- and eighties films are referenced quite a bit in Easy A.
The title is clever, witty, and has a bit of attitude. However, Easy A does not entirely live up to the promise of its title. It's an intelligent off-beat film for the most part but the director and writer keep congratulating themselves on their wit and quirkiness so often that the film begins to grate. There's also an unpleasant snarky tone to the whole proceedings. Olive (Emma Stone), our slutty protagonist who is not really a slut, is frequently bitchy to pretty much every other character, except her 'favourite teacher'(it's not a euphemism but the film would be much funnier if it was). She has a massive superiority complex, using every excuse to show off her wit and pretentious intellect. Apparently this film is supposed to be indicative of our generation, and it is, in the sense that everybody is self-obsessed. Despite the protagonist being sour, Emma Stone brings a bit of attitude to the film and perhaps indicates that Olive is just as self-absorbed as everybody else.
The film's premise has parallels with 19th century American classic The Scarlet Letter, in which a woman is persecuted and forced to wear an A as a symbol of her adultery, whilst the man is not punished at all. However the filmmakers seem to have got confused about what adultery means, as they keep saying that Olive is an adulterer whereas her actual sin is supposed sluttiness. The film's attempt to convey the religious themes of the novel does not really pay off. I'm not religious at all but I found the obsession with attacking religious zealots rather sour and a distraction from a promising, albeit implausible, comic premise.
So, school report for this film: intelligent, but a big attitude problem.