When an actor’s performance is stunted by poor writing it can be frustrating as a viewer, especially if you see their true ability in other parts of a film. The teen comedy Easy A places actress Emma Stone in her first leading role, since she came into the mainstream with supporting characters in Superbad and Zombieland. Stone’s portrayal of Olive Penderghast is brutally honest and hilariously sarcastic, proving that the young woman has the acting chops and charisma to play major roles in the near future. As Olive though, Stone is significantly limited by the narration she reads, which is overly self-aware to the point of being unfunny.
Olive describes herself as the average teenager at the outset of the film, expressing that she is completely unnoticed by her peers and does not have a lot of real friends. She quickly discovers however that her status in high school can change from unknown to notorious with a single rumor. While trying to impress her friend with false sexual exploits, she unintentionally starts a rumor that spreads to the entire school. She establishes a certain reputation among her peers for it, which at first she relishes. Olive enjoys being noticed by her classmates even if it is for being promiscuous. It amuses her how much the uber-Christians led by Marianne (Amanda Bynes) are bent out of shape about this single act of sin.
What starts out as an innocent lie though, balloons into a full on disaster when Olive decides to cash in on her reputation as a harlot. Nerdy guys at her school realize that they can pay her to say they hooked up, to become more desirable to other girls. Over time though this operation seriously alienates Olive from her friends and her classmates, spawning rumors that she does not even start. Olive is forced to confront her choices and to dispel the rumors so that she can resume her normal life again.
Probably the most interesting aspect of the movie is Olive’s narration, which is done as part of webcam broadcasts that tell her account of the events. Stone’s facial expressions and sarcastic tone really work well during these sequences. There are a few times where Olive breaks the fourth wall during her narration, and it just does not work. She references other movies and describes cliché things that she says as cliché, without it adding humor.
Honorable mention goes to her parents played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, because they are hilarious in their delivery and in their sincerity. They provide Olive with some genuine parental advice with just the right amount of over sharing that makes you cringe for the her.
While this film is pretty funny overall, its forced self-awareness ultimately detracts from it. The story is charming and engaging at points, though admittedly there is not a lot of re-watch value in this film because the shock value of some of its humor loses its luster after you have watched it once. I enjoyed Easy A but I don’t feel compelled to see it again now that I have.