Easy A 2010

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The ghost of John Hughes smiles upon Easy A, a film that freely and giddily borrows from and pays tribute to Hughes' famous Holy Trinity of '80s teen angst comedies. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: Given the luminaries ... dotting the cast, this ought to be some kind of fun, but it's not nearly as much fun as it might have been Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Whatever else it accomplishes, the sassy high school comedy Easy A commands attention for the irresistible presence of Emma Stone, playing a good girl who pretends to be bad. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: Olive is a kind of modern day Ferris Bueller. She has it pretty close to all figured out, and she even gets her own big, gratuitous musical number. It's a terrifically deadpan, lively performance from Stone. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: You can't help but wonder why Olive doesn't just stay at home, work on her college applications and leave the sub-John Hughes melodramatics to a lesser Ringwald. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The movie belongs to Stone, that gorgeous, husky-voiced redhead. When most actors deliver nonstop patter, their mouths get ahead of their minds, but Stone's brain works so fast that her mouth can barely keep up. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: It catapults Emma Stone into a higher place reserved for American actors who can handle elevated language with casually dazzling aplomb. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Though the talented Stone shows off some sharp comic timing, it's hard to accept this smart, gorgeous young woman as a school misfit yearning for popularity... Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Easy A has two strong elements in its favor: heart, and Stone's terrific lead performance. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: This is the kind of movie about teenagers that an adult audience should embrace. It's simply that good, and Stone is nothing short of wonderful. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Until it spins manically out of control in the last act, Easy A is a charmer: a high school satire with a lethally sharp script and a big, smart, adorable star performance from Emma Stone. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Director Will Gluck shows wicked comic timing and uncommon warmth in an overworked genre. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Any movie that quotes Mark Twain, excerpts John Hughes and employs a singeing British cussword normally unheard in PG-13 high school comedies - that's all right, too. More than all right. Easy A might not ace it, but it scores a solid B. Read more

Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: It makes with the clever dialogue and it does present a world where a young woman takes charge and triumphs over peer pressure, but the filmmakers were either too lazy or inept to find a way to be hip and competent at the same time. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: A gem of a turn by Emma Stone as high school student Olive Penderghast makes this tale of a girl, gossip and independence a smart and self-aware hoot in the tradition of the teen flicks of the 1980s. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: An extremely witty, inventive, sweet and perceptive coming-out party for Emma Stone. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: If Lindsay Lohan never makes it back to leading-lady status, then we can all comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we have Emma Stone. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: The material is elevated by the delightful Emma Stone, spinning comedy out of likability alone. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: An often hilarious and observant comedy about high school from the point of view of an extraordinarily smart and sagacious young woman. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: Much of what passes for fresh in this Scarlet Letter update doesn't bear closer inspection, yet the movie is not without its pleasures, chief among them the potentially star-making lead performance by Emma Stone. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Not every moment of Easy A earns a passing grade, but what works in this edgy teen comedy works spectacularly well. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Will Gluck's high school comedy combines the soul of John Hughes with the arch sass of Diablo Cody, and delivers something delightfully new in the process. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Stone shows great self-assurance and considerable comic chops in a tour-de-force that that could have seemed smarmy and/or silly in lesser hands. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Like the movie she's in, Olive is smart, sarcastic, and never snarky. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Easy A belongs in the company of Election, Heathers, and Mean Girls -- all motion pictures that have outlived their theatrical lives because they have unique voices and use them to say something. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's a funny, engaging comedy that takes the familiar but underrated Emma Stone and makes her, I believe, a star. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: The jokes are hit-and-miss. But Stone is one sassy babe and a breakout star who nails every zinger and brings genuine warmth to her scenes with her parents. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A thoroughly delightful surprise, after a summer full of dim and dreary comedies. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A high-spirited, whip-smart high school sex comedy told from a female perspective, Easy A is The Scarlet Letter on laughing gas. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The final mark? Well, give this proud A a solid B. It's definitely a Diablo Codyesque cut above the norm - the wit can sometimes feel contrived but at least there's wit to be found. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: As for Emma Stone, she didn't have to win me over. She conquered me from the first A. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: Stone gives a terrific performance, her knowing drawl implying intellect and indifference with underlying warmth. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Easy A not only makes the grade, but it comes in close to 100%. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Is Olive practicing prostitution? Hair-splitters would say so, but hair-splitters likely won't be seeing Easy A, with its silliness, over-the-topitude and fabulous leading lady, who caps her fresh, charming performance with a musical number at the end. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Easy A tacks on a sound message about a teenage girl's right to do with her body as she wishes; the 88 preceding minutes aren't much more relevant than, as one character snarks, "a gossip girl in a sweet valley of traveling pants." Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Enhanced by a wicked sense of humor, Will Gluck's movie does what Hughes did best, showcasing characters with personality who make you wish you had them on speed dial. Read more