Emma Stone gives a great performance but the film doesn't quite understand adolescence

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2011)

I loved Emma Stone in this film. She is quirky, smart, and sexy as Olive a genuinely very well written character. It really goes to show you that a great performance can make a film because I think 'Easy A' fails at really capturing the spirits behind the teenage comedy. The film works because of Stone and not really the direction.
I'll say this about this scenario, it's very clever. Being a teenager is a miserable experience made all the worse by this facebook generation. 'Easy A' sort of plays with that but really this story is a classic that needs little spinning. It's a story people live and maybe that's why I identified with Olive. The problem with the film is that despite a great deal of wit and truth behind the story it still doesn't feel real. We see this as a Hollywood copy of adolescence and it can't really be close to the real McCoy. Why? Well mainly because the whole scale of this story seems way too large and despite a great cast we see a lot of them as stars and not organic human beings. This story about the venom of rumors might feel more organic if the scale wasn't so large. You don't advertise backstabbing and this film has characters that aren't subtle about their plans.
I think something has to be said about the cast and even Stone. I want a teen comedy that doesn't feel populated by beautiful people. Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Hayden Chruch, Amanda Bynes, Lisa Kudrow and even Stone are all beautiful people. Adolosenance is about the lack of beauty and the constant fear that you will never attain beauty. I kept saying to myself wouldn't this movie be more compelling if Olive was played by a bland looking girl or an overweight girl? Wouldn't it have so much more of an impact? Don't get me wrong I like Stone a great deal but she is beautiful and sticks out as such. It's hard to believe her as the social misfit.
That being said her performance is strong. I merely reject the idea behind it. She is very funny and has great spunk in the role. We gravitate to this Olive character because of her desire to be in control. I love Olive's sarcastic and yet very compelling way of speaking which is really a highlight from Stone. I think though that what makes this performance interesting is that this character is fully rounded and goes on a journey. Stone brings this character from one point to another and it is very compelling.
The other cast members are not as good as Stone. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson each turn in the worst performances of their careers as Olive's parents. These characters are horribly written and any chance of saving them depended on some sort of restraint from Clarkson and Tucci and they sadly indulge big time. These children would have been taken away from Child Protective Services a long time ago and I'll leave it at that.
What is there to make about the Scarlet Letter? It's an interesting arch for the film but I think it kind of loses it's touch as a plot device but as a character device it's really special. I love seeing this smart girl Olive using literature to satisfy apes. If she's going to grime herself with filth she might as well do so with a little class.