It is not an easy thing to make a good high school comedy. There are certain limitations to this genre as you are restricted to a PG tone when dealing with some 18A subject matter.
It is this handicap that often leads to rehashing of old standbys. Things like naive adults, dumb jocks, awkward nerds and so on (thank you John Hughes - I mean that.).
While the odds are against these films it is nice when someone contributes a refreshing addition. Here we have Easy A.
Emma Stone plays Alice and it's pretty much her show. The story opens with her making a video blog telling everyone "her" side of the story. A story that involves her as a bright but background student finally getting noticed when rumours begin to spread around school.
Instead of denying the "dirty whore skank" label (aren't teenage girls great!), she decides that if people are going to talk she may as well give them a show by wearing provocative clothes to school and allowing more talk to continue.
The cherry on the cake is her English class is reading The Scarlet Letter so she tops off her outfits with a red A.
Predictably, the attention isn't all that fun and it quickly goes from novelty to oppressive while exposing the living hell that is discovering teenage sexuality in high school.
For those whose pet peeves are old actors playing high school kids - yeah there is some of that going on - even though Stone is 22 and does look a little old, she still delivers a decent performance.
In the end, Easy A is no Heathers but it's a pretty good teenage girl movie that will leave some very thankful they don't have to be a teenager ever again.
