Easy A

Offering a contemporary take on Hester Prynne's dilemma in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, director Will Gluck's Easy A revolves around Olive (Golden Globe nominee Emma Stone), who notes that the “the rumors of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated.” Evading questions about her weekend from her overly-aggressive best friend, Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka), Emma concocted a tale that implied she lost her virginity to a college boy. Unfortunately, this fiction was overheard by judgmental, sanctimonious Marianne (Amanda Bynes), who spread the scandalous story all over Ojai High School, causing Olive to be shunned by the snotty cliques. With her reputation ruined, Olive sews a scarlet “A” on her blouse and adopts such a floozy façade that her friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) proposes that she act as if she was having sex with him as well, so people won't realize he's gay. Emma does just that—quite publicly—causing other hapless misfits and nerds to line up to pay for her “pretend” favors in order to boost their own social standing. What saves Olive's sanity are her free-spirited, ultra-cool parents (Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson), who have obviously instilled in her the spunky confidence that leads to her eventual triumph in this sassy, edgy, captivating twist on a classic morality tale. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Will Gluck and Golden Globe nominee star Emma Stone, Stone's audition footage (20 min.), a gag reel (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an “Extra Credit” pop-up trivia track, a “making-of” featurette (15 min.), a “Vocabulary of Hilarity” featurette on the dialogue (5 min.), “The School of Pop Culture: Movies of the Eighties” segment (5 min.), and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)