Directed by: Will Gluck
Who's in it: Emma Stone (Olive), Penn Badgley (Todd), Amanda Bynes (Marianne), Dan Byrd (Brandon), Cam Gigandet (Micah,), Lisa Kudrow (Mrs. Griffith),Stanley Tucci (Olive's father).
Genre:
One of the biggest challenge for an amateur reviewer like me is to place a movie in a certain genre. Genre can sometimes be unfair for a movie since classifying a movie in the wrong genre is like putting the wrong label on a bottle of expensive wine and making it look cheap (not like i've ever tasted expensive wine or even cheap ones because you see i don't drink). The point is, you should always use genre as a guide and use your common sense to decide what to make of the movie after watching it yourself and not simply take for granted the words of a self-proclaimed movie critic like me.
However, if you insist, i will classify this movie under the following genres (i just don't feel comfortable assigning a single genre for any given movie): romantic comedy (without any actual romance), high school (the non-musical type).
The Story (warning, spoilers ahead):
This movie started with Olive (Emma Stone) lying to her BFF (with the big boobs) about having a date with a guy to avoid going on camping trip with her BFF's family (her BFF comes from a family of nudist). She lied about having sex with her "imaginary date" but unfortunate for her, Marianne, the school's notorious leader of the" I Love Jesus" cult happens to hear about it and spread rumors about her being a slut to the whole school. The rumors went from bad to worse when her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) asked her to help convince everyone that he's straight by having "imaginary sex" with her at a party (with everyone listening at the door). When she got fed up of denying all the rumors, she started dressing like a stripper and offered "imaginary sex" to half of the school's losers. Her breaking point came when the students staged a rally (started by none other than Marianne, after her so-called BF claimed he got Chlamydia from Olive) to get rid of her from school and almost got raped by her BFF's BF on a date. She was saved by her soon-to-be BF, Todd (Penn Badgely) and after hearing his confession about wanting to kiss her for real since grade school (she gave him an "imaginary kiss" when they were younger), she decided to end the rumor and make a live online telecast, confessing every single lie she ever told about her being the school's infamous skank and in the process exposing the counselor's (Lisa Kudrow) one night stand with a student (and giving him Chlamydia) among other things.
Is it worth watching?
If you like high school movies without a bunch of students jumping around singing and dancing from a tune that pops out of nowhere (like in Glee or High School Musical), this is the movie for you. In fact, this movie reminded me of Ten Things I Hate About You, another high school movie (which is now turned into a serial ) starring the great Heath Ledger. If TIHAY is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, this movie draws its inspiration from the Scarlet Letter, an 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The heroine of this movie shares the same wise-cracking, "i'm a genius i don't belong in high school" attitude with the leading role made famous by Julia Stiles. This movie poses the same question asked in so many American high school movies: what it means to be popular? However, the creators of this movie decided to pose this question from a slightly unconventional perspective: would you go all the way to stake your own virginity for the sake of being popular? This movie talks about sex without showing real sex (since most of the sex in this movie are imaginary) which makes it an ideal family movie and a good candidate for a sexual education video (if our government ever decides to make sexual education part of the high school program) . Emma Stone, Penn Badgley (he gets to take his shirt off, a lot in this movie), Cam Gigandet (he gets to keep his shirt on this time around), the BFF with the huge boobs all make for delicious eye candy. The plot is engaging enough to make me glued to my seat, the screenplay is decent with some really "cool" lines, decent acting by the cast, no over the top ending with fireworks or kids dancing along some catchy tune that pops out of nowhere.
By the way if you're still wondering what the title of the movie means: easy as in easy to get laid and A is short for "adulterer". Olive got inspired by the book Scarlet Letter where a woman is wrongly accused of being an adulterer and was forced to wear an A on her dress before being sentenced to death. Olive wears a red A on her dress to school after being called a slut.
The Snob's Verdict: 7/ 10. Definitely worth watching is you're itching for a high school movie minus the singing and dancing.
Is it worth watching?
If you like high school movies without a bunch of students jumping around singing and dancing from a tune that pops out of nowhere (like in Glee or High School Musical), this is the movie for you. In fact, this movie reminded me of Ten Things I Hate About You, another high school movie (which is now turned into a serial ) starring the great Heath Ledger. If TIHAY is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, this movie draws its inspiration from the Scarlet Letter, an 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The heroine of this movie shares the same wise-cracking, "i'm a genius i don't belong in high school" attitude with the leading role made famous by Julia Stiles. This movie poses the same question asked in so many American high school movies: what it means to be popular? However, the creators of this movie decided to pose this question from a slightly unconventional perspective: would you go all the way to stake your own virginity for the sake of being popular? This movie talks about sex without showing real sex (since most of the sex in this movie are imaginary) which makes it an ideal family movie and a good candidate for a sexual education video (if our government ever decides to make sexual education part of the high school program) . Emma Stone, Penn Badgley (he gets to take his shirt off, a lot in this movie), Cam Gigandet (he gets to keep his shirt on this time around), the BFF with the huge boobs all make for delicious eye candy. The plot is engaging enough to make me glued to my seat, the screenplay is decent with some really "cool" lines, decent acting by the cast, no over the top ending with fireworks or kids dancing along some catchy tune that pops out of nowhere.
By the way if you're still wondering what the title of the movie means: easy as in easy to get laid and A is short for "adulterer". Olive got inspired by the book Scarlet Letter where a woman is wrongly accused of being an adulterer and was forced to wear an A on her dress before being sentenced to death. Olive wears a red A on her dress to school after being called a slut.
The Snob's Verdict: 7/ 10. Definitely worth watching is you're itching for a high school movie minus the singing and dancing.
Great review! I agree for sure. I just got the movie in the mail from Blockbuster and finished watching it and although I did find it hilarious, it's just not a buy for my home. Thankfully I just started working and subscribing with DISH Network so I was able to rent it with my 3 month free trial to Blockbuster. It's pretty sweet! I'll definitely be buying the hookup with Blockbuster after my free promo. Check out to get it too here http://bit.ly/khvWnc. :)
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