Easy A

***

This is an ably directed and well written teen comedy. I just shouldn’t have watched it. I’m not saying I’m entirely against teen flicks. They just have to be really good for this 38-year-old male to join in. (I know, I’m not exactly the target audience.)  But here I took the advice of my esteemed colleagues - the ones with erm, actual paid, reviewing jobs - and added Easy A to my Lovefilm list. Whereas they were pleasantly surprised by a film they expected nothing from, I sought it out for my viewing pleasure and actually paid to see it. (Not bitterness, I assure you. Just a simple fact, Jack.) Basically, it’s good but not that good and it’s just not for me.

Olive (Emma Stone) is a teenager who tells a tall tale about losing her virginity. The lie escalates into rumour at her high school and suddenly everything changes for her. Initially, for the better.

The film supplies some good laughs. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are particularly comical as her way-liberal parents. Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow also feature, albeit in more dramatic mode but to good effect. Nice to see all these distinguished actors unafraid to put in a performance in a minor role. Of course, it may actually be down to necessity (except for Lisa Kudrow who I imagine still has gazillions for her work on Friends), who knows. Their presence also makes up for the hit-and-miss performances of the younger cast.

The main trouble with the film is Olive’s self-aggrandising voice-over, which is told to webcam. For a young woman going through a turbulent emotional time she is a little too cocksure. While there are occasional glimpses of vulnerability, it’s mostly about her savvy social nous – which has only ever been witnessed before in teenagers in Dawson’s Creek. As a result, it’s rather grating.