Easy A

Going to be a bit arse about face with this review, and head for the flaw in the film first, before we go any further. This film takes place in a parallel universe, such as one might find on a show like Sliders, where the Earth is just the same as our own, except for one small difference which changes everything. In this case, that difference is that the school leaving age is 22. This is a teen comedy, a tribute to John Hughes, really, about the exploits of teenagers in high school, and the youngest of the five principal actors in a teenage role is 21. The oldest is 25. And they're not particularly young looking for their age either. So it's a bit weird, really. In some ways, the characters are school-kids, but in others they're clearly functioning as adults. So. Not a film high on the realism scale. So, what is it?

It's about a nice, well behaved schoolgirl called Olive, in her final year (I hope, unless we're being asked to believe that Emma Stone is *under* 17), who, after a lie to her friend about having slept with a guy from college, gets a certain reputation. Having got this reputation, the gossip begins to get out of control, and all kinds of tales are being passed around. Before long, a gay friend of hers comes to her with a proposition. He knows that all the stories about her are just that, stories, and so wonders if he could persuade her to go along with a story that she had sex with him, thus saving him from the daily bullying and humiliation he gets because people think he's gay. She goes along with it, and the two fake a sex scene at one of those teen parties that only happen in movies, and a legend is born.

This leads to her helping out a whole bunch of guys, all of whom feel that the misery that is their high school life could be improved by having a reputation of having scored with her, and she begins doing a lot of these favours, until eventually her reputation gets to such a level that the rest of the school turns against her, and she has to find some way of getting out of the situation she's put herself in.

Overall, this is a smart, funny comedy, which benefits in a strange way from being set in this strange parallel universe. Emma Stone plays Olive as a girl who's impossibly cute, smart, funny, and all around drop dead gorgeous even for a 22 year old. You'll never meet a *17* year old this self-possessed and devastatingly witty, it's just impossible. And so long as you're OK with realism being thrown out of the window, she's therefore a screen presence who can easily command your attention for the 90 minutes required. So unless you're going to get totally unreasonable and get all "OMG THIS COMEDY IS FAR TOO FUNNY AND WITTY", you just go with the unreality of it all, and enjoy it.

Overall, it's well worth a watch, and leaves you with a big smile.