One of the best comedies from 2010

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2014)

These are the 90 minutes that brought Emma Stone to popularity in the movie business four years ago, that were crucial for her getting roles in Spider-Man, The Help and Birdman afterward. And last but not least, she scored a Golden Globe nomination for it. Aside from Stone, the movie includes lots of nice music, some real classics and competent performances from more established Hollywood actors, such as Amanda Bynes (her most recent appearance in a film and that was 4 years ago already), Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell, Lisa Kudrow and Stanley Tucci. Tucci is my favorite here giving an incredibly funny performance as the main character's dad. The writers did a nice job especially with the dialogs for this film. A bit of a shame that writer Bert V. Royal has not worked much since then when it comes to new projects. Nothing big coming out from him really. There isn't a single cheese scene. It is creative and witty from start to finish. The story is fine too, sometimes almost a bit too much against the church, but everybody who is not strictly religious will not be offended. At least the film's director has a bit more in his body of work now. He directed "Friends with Benefits" (also including Stone in the cast), Michael J. Fox' new television series and the popular upcoming musical "Annie".
The emotional breakdowns from Stone's character did not entirely convince me and one would have been enough as well, but I really liked the message against Facebook and today's mentality of how you have to let the world know about everything you do or feel. It's really embarrassing and it was great to see so much criticism against that here. Also I liked how the relationships were portrayed. The main character's relationship with her teacher was nice to look at and felt only bad during one scene when he tells her that he does not like the other student either. Apart from that, it was very realistic when Kudrow's character and the fat boy from early on disappoint her in the end. It did not matter to them (anymore) that she really helped them both early on. That's life. If you're in the mood for an actually good-quality teenager-centered comedy, this one here would make for a wise pick.