Easy A (2010)
Directed by Will Gluck
Olive, an average high school student, sees her below-the-radar existence turn around overnight once she decides to use the school's gossip grapevine to advance her social standing. Now her classmates are turning against her and the school board is becoming concerned, including her favorite teacher and the distracted guidance counselor. With the support of her hilariously idiosyncratic parents and a little help from a long-time crush, Olive attempts to take on her notorious new identity and crush the rumor mill once and for all.
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The film is also (very loosely) based on "The Scarlet Letter," which winds up being less an inspiration for the plot and more a source for one of the film's funniest gags wherein various characters mockingly refer to the 1995 adaptation of the novel starring Demi Moore.
But this is, after all, a high school flick inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," so even though I didn't really buy the words coming out of the mouth of a precocious 17-year-old, I still enjoyed knowing somebody uttered them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter inspires the high-school comedy Easy A, in which Olive (Emma Stone) finds herself excoriated by the entire student body when word mistakenly gets out that she is the campus harlot.
Here he adolescentizes The Scarlet Letter; the title refers to the stigmatic A for Adultery worn by Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne.
The reference, of course, is Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," which she's reading in a class taught by the school's coolest teacher (Thomas Haden Church, in perfect casting).
Not only does it contain various literary references to Sylvia Plath, Mark Twain and Nathaniel Hawthorne (whose novel The Scarlet Letter forms the basis of Easy A ) but it also mentions Judy Blume, Say Anything… and all of John Hughes’s films.
About ten to fifteen years ago, there was a spurt of teen films based on classics from Jane Austen's "Emma" in "Clueless" to Shakespeare in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O." "Easy A" updates the convention with referential homage to the films of John Hughes and John Cusack's iconic "Say Anything" boom box scene, both of which are merged in the film's climax.
Chivalry and decency are repeatedly valued and this nostalgic longing hearkens back to plenty of ‘80s teen comedies in the same vein, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Say Anything... Olive even name-checks John Hughes directly.
Royal and director Will Gluck strike comic gold when paying homage to iconic scenes in teen movies, especially that wonderfully sappy bit from “Say Anything” with Penn Badgley (“Gossip Girl”) subbing handsomely for a boombox-lifting John Cusack.
It’s obvious he has a thing for John Hughes/Cameron Crowe ’80s teen comedies (which Olive makes reference to at one point) – and why wouldn’t he? Sixteen Candles and Say Anything are some of the genre’s classics.
Easy A brings to mind Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Can’t Buy Me Love and Say Anything.
Hughes’ classics are referenced frequently; music – even a clip – from ”The Breakfast Club” plays) as well as other seminal 80s teen films (”Cant Buy Me Love”, ”Say Anything”), ”Easy A” is a light but nicely crafted comedy about a young girl who (Similarly to Ronald Miller in ”Cant Buy Me Love”) lies her ass off to be popular.
About ten to fifteen years ago, there was a spurt of teen films based on classics from Jane Austen's "Emma" in "Clueless" to Shakespeare in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O." "Easy A" updates the convention with referential homage to the films of John Hughes and John Cusack's iconic "Say Anything" boom box scene, both of which are merged in the film's climax.
As far as teen comedies informed by 10th-grade English syllabi go, Easy A , partly inspired by The Scarlet Letter, is remedial ed compared with Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You .
In fact, this film (specifically because of Stone’s performance) is very reminding of Alicia Silverstone’s run as Cher in 1995?s Clueless.
We all recall the wit and charm of Amy Heckerling 's 1995 " Clueless ," which seamlessly and gracefully grafted the plot of Jane Austen's "Emma" to a contemporary Valley Girl comedy of manners and mores.
"Easy A" borrows copiously from the John Hughes catalog, and draws favorable comparisons to some of the smarter teen fare from the past few decades, including "Saved," "Juno," "Mean Girls" and "Clueless."
While it's tempting to compare "Easy A" with "Clueless," there are more differences than similarities.
It’s a loose-fitting tribute to say the least, considering how Royal doesn’t actually understand what he’s referencing (pointing out Ferris Bueller’s parade-hijacking burst of joy as a “random dance number,” and proclaiming Bender’s triumphant fist pump at the climax of “The Breakfast Club” as a celebration of his romantic conquest).
Chivalry and decency are repeatedly valued and this nostalgic longing hearkens back to plenty of ‘80s teen comedies in the same vein, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Say Anything... Olive even name-checks John Hughes directly.
Hughes’ classics are referenced frequently; music – even a clip – from ”The Breakfast Club” plays) as well as other seminal 80s teen films (”Cant Buy Me Love”, ”Say Anything”), ”Easy A” is a light but nicely crafted comedy about a young girl who (Similarly to Ronald Miller in ”Cant Buy Me Love”) lies her ass off to be popular.
It implies that it's putting an Internet-age spin on the old standards by explicitly referencing teen-movie landmarks like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Say Anything — and by "explicitly referencing," I mean it actually splices shots from those movies into the proceedings, a bid for reflexivity that screenwriter Bert V. Royal and director Will Gluck lack the chops to support.
With films like The Breakfast Club , Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Hughes tapped into the inherent drama of high school with comedy and warmth.
But after a single viewing of the smartly written and directed Easy A, I feel safe in saying that, just as with 16 Candles , The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller, it's a movie I know I'll be unable to resist watching whenever it pops up on cable TV - no matter how many times I've seen it.
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Chivalry and decency are repeatedly valued and this nostalgic longing hearkens back to plenty of ‘80s teen comedies in the same vein, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Say Anything... Olive even name-checks John Hughes directly.
It’s obvious he has a thing for John Hughes/Cameron Crowe ’80s teen comedies (which Olive makes reference to at one point) – and why wouldn’t he? Sixteen Candles and Say Anything are some of the genre’s classics.
It implies that it's putting an Internet-age spin on the old standards by explicitly referencing teen-movie landmarks like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Say Anything — and by "explicitly referencing," I mean it actually splices shots from those movies into the proceedings, a bid for reflexivity that screenwriter Bert V. Royal and director Will Gluck lack the chops to support.
“Easy A’’ has a major crush on ’80s teen movies, so Todd’s basically Michael Schoeffling in “Sixteen Candles’’ until he turns into John Cusack in “Say Anything.’’
Her engaging web-caster Olive Penderghast represents a spunky amalgam of girl power on film, showing hints of the depressed and dateless Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald in “Sixteen Candles”), the wannabe-popular Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan in “Mean Girls”) and the sarcastic-but-knowing Juno (Ellen Page).
With films like The Breakfast Club , Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Hughes tapped into the inherent drama of high school with comedy and warmth.
Olive's psyche for the nicer romance side has been formed by '80s teen cinema for which we get a montage of classic moments from Say Anything, Sixteen Candles and from the much-much-much-lesser classic, Can't Buy Me Love, to drive home the film's concept.
Say Anything and Can't Buy Me Love are explicitly referenced, but they're not the only examples.
A major step up for director Will Gluck, who previously helmed 2009's smarmy " Fired Up! ," "Easy A" is nothing short of a love letter to the late, great John Hughes; there are references mischievously sprinkled throughout ("Never had one lesson," Olive replies to her father when he catches her strumming a guitar in her bedroom), choice soundtrack recollections (The Thompson Twins' "If You Were Here," beautifully covered by The Cary Brothers, and Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" both play pivotal roles), and even a montage of scenes from classic teen flicks encompassing not only Hughes, but also 1987's "Can't Buy Me Love" and 1989's "Say Anything."
About ten to fifteen years ago, there was a spurt of teen films based on classics from Jane Austen's "Emma" in "Clueless" to Shakespeare in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O." "Easy A" updates the convention with referential homage to the films of John Hughes and John Cusack's iconic "Say Anything" boom box scene, both of which are merged in the film's climax.
We all recall the wit and charm of Amy Heckerling 's 1995 " Clueless ," which seamlessly and gracefully grafted the plot of Jane Austen's "Emma" to a contemporary Valley Girl comedy of manners and mores.
But, while "Clueless" follows the plot of Jane Austen's "Emma" point for point, "Easy A's" connection to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is mostly in Stone's head, as she relates to the ostracized Hester Prynne.
The great Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland) stars as Olive, who narrates almost all of Easy A as a confessional webcast about a tumultuous time in her high school career.
Remember Clueless, which updated Jane Austen's Emma and made Alicia Silverstone the girl of the month?
Like Clueless, which mined Jane Austen’s “Emma” for material, Easy A is a play off of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” about a woman who is publicly shamed into wearing a mark to denote her sexual transgressions.
Like Clueless, which mined Jane Austen’s “Emma” for material, Easy A is a play off of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” about a woman who is publicly shamed into wearing a mark to denote her sexual transgressions.
We all recall the wit and charm of Amy Heckerling 's 1995 " Clueless ," which seamlessly and gracefully grafted the plot of Jane Austen's "Emma" to a contemporary Valley Girl comedy of manners and mores.
Remember Clueless, which updated Jane Austen's Emma and made Alicia Silverstone the girl of the month?
About ten to fifteen years ago, there was a spurt of teen films based on classics from Jane Austen's "Emma" in "Clueless" to Shakespeare in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O." "Easy A" updates the convention with referential homage to the films of John Hughes and John Cusack's iconic "Say Anything" boom box scene, both of which are merged in the film's climax.
If you bemoan the fact that there hasn’t been a fresh, original and funny high school comedy in a long time, get thee to “Easy A,” which updates Hester Prynne’s dilemma in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” in somewhat the same way Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” revised Jane Austen’s “Emma” 15 years ago.
But, while "Clueless" follows the plot of Jane Austen's "Emma" point for point, "Easy A's" connection to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is mostly in Stone's head, as she relates to the ostracized Hester Prynne.
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About ten to fifteen years ago, there was a spurt of teen films based on classics from Jane Austen's "Emma" in "Clueless" to Shakespeare in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O." "Easy A" updates the convention with referential homage to the films of John Hughes and John Cusack's iconic "Say Anything" boom box scene, both of which are merged in the film's climax.
As far as teen comedies informed by 10th-grade English syllabi go, Easy A , partly inspired by The Scarlet Letter, is remedial ed compared with Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You .
Royal sprinkles his screenplay with snappy cultural references that aren't exactly pop; it's one thing to be inspired by Shakespeare like 10 Things I Hate About You, and entirely another to mine laughs from Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dr. Kinsey and Huckleberry Finn.
"Easy A" is pretty much destined to join "Superbad," "Mean Girls," and, looking a bit further back, "10 Things I Hate About You," as a modern teen movie classic.
The movie wisely addresses its fondness for John Hughes and his likeminded teen comedy peers up front (it even contains covers of seminal “John Hughes songs” on its soundtrack), though the spirits of “Clueless” (narration), “10 Things I Hate About You” (source material) and “ Juno ” (smart, plucky heroine) are present as well.
2000's " 10 Things I Hate About You " credibly transplanted Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" to high school and introduced audiences to the winning ways of Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles .
TALKING: Whether it’s a nod, homage or stealing, Easy A takes some material from past 80’s glory like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
With films like The Breakfast Club , Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Hughes tapped into the inherent drama of high school with comedy and warmth.
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “Ten Things I Hate About You.” “Mean Girls.”
Running throughout the pleasant-surprise teen comedy "Easy A" is a rib-tickling little gag whereby various characters quote memorable lines from quintessentially 1980s teen movies, from Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" to "The Outsiders" to " Say Anything ."