She Makes You Forget Lindsey Lohan

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2011)

When I rented this movie, I had seen Emma Stone on Letterman and had heard her name bouncing around, but had never seen her in anything.
She is Lindsey Lohan's worst nightmare. In Easy A, Ms. Stone plays the type of character, Ms. Lohan played in Mean Girls. The territory is the hostile world of high school. High school is a distant memory for me, and much has changed since I finished. There have been too many movies about high school for my taste, but each generation gets to mark their moment. Ms. Stone, in certain frames, bears a striking resemblance to Ms. Lohan. She is a younger, talented, less-troubled actress who can really carry the big screen.
In her appearance on Letterman, they ran a trailer of the movie which charmed me. Ms. Stone's character receives a birthday card which, when opened, plays "Pocketful of Sunshine." She slaps it shut and mutters: "Worst song ever!" Over the weekend, she opens the card again and again, singing and dancing to the tune. If that is her singing voice, Ms. Stone can sing. It is a very funny clip, but in that 60 seconds, she demonstrates a lot of range.
The script in this film is absolutely one of the best comedy scripts ever! The relationship between her father (played so well by Stanley Tucci) and her mother (played so well by Patricia Clarkson, who is always good) and their children is warm, loving and very witty.
This is a family which percolates wit and good humor. I would pay good money to have dinner and listen to them chatter about their day. Ms. Stone plays a high school student named Olive, who becomes the center of a storm of gossip about her alleged promiscuity. Her literature class happens to be reading Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." Olive decides to play Hester Prynne. She changes her clothing and sews the letter "A" on her bustier, flouncing around school as if she is exactly what they say she is.
Wonderful depiction of how gossip travels through modern technology. Her every move is discussed in text and cell phone calls.
Also excellent in this film is Thomas Hayden Church, who plays Mr. Griffith, her English teacher. His timing is perfect and his lines are perfect.
This is usually not my genre, but Easy A is so much better than the average high school drama. It is a smart comedy with a lot of strong performances. It should make some Top 10 Lists for 2010. Comedy does not get as much respect as drama at awards time, but the cast, the writers, directors, editors and cameramen deserve recognition. This is a good movie.