Easy A

I snuck off to see this one alone, it's not earthdad's cup of tea and that's fine. I've been wanting to see it since it came out several weeks ago. It was definitely worth a look - what a good movie!

Emma Stone ('Superbad', 'Zombieland') stars as a nerdy, intelligent, quiet, wall flower girl who discovers that having a sexual reputation in high school gets you a lot of attention. She's a virgin but playing with the power of the grapevine and starts rumors about herself, at first for attention but later to help out others and earn a little cash. It's fun, it's ridiculous and it's great that we're in on the joke with her while watching the different reactions of her peers.

What's really great is watching this scheme grow - it gets complicated - it takes on a life of its own and it gets out of control. The levels the movie goes through are really interesting.

Intertwined so nicely with our current day story is the fact that her lit class is reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. We get a refresher on that story, the ostracizing of the 'bad' individual, and we see it played out in today's world. It's a great overlay of a classic with today.

- My only peeve is that our heroine ultimately uses the letter 'A' on her wardrobe to mimic The Scarlet Letter, while the 'A' stood for "adulterer" in the original story. Our high school girl is not an adulterer. But then I may be splitting hairs here... -

The story is a huge draw here, but Emma Stone is what carries the movie. She's just the perfect blend of dorky, smart, clever, cute, sexy - all of the above.

Major bright spots are the glimpses into her family life. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson play Mom and Dad and they are exquisite! The dialogue is the best this year since The Social Network, the attitudes are fun and happy and light. It's a strikingly refreshing take on parents and family life. I found myself wishing for more scenes with them!

Another big plus for the movie is the many nods to 80s movies and particularly to John Hughes. Lots of texture and content in this film - not fluff.

I gave this a '4'! Pueblo Tinseltown was the place. Popcorn was great - The theater was much fuller than I'd expected considering this has been in town now for 3 weeks or more, but then word gets around when it's a good one!