Easy A Is An Easy Review For This Screenwriter

Last updated on May 13th, 2024 at 10:21 pm

As a dreamer who dreams of getting my screenplay produced, I feel that no one really knows the impact your words may have on others when you release them into the internet stratosphere, especially when those words are the gateway to your screenwriting dreams.

This line must have struck a chord with someone in my Screenwriter Offers Zombieland Movie Review: “Emma Stone ‘shines’ in this movie as a cool butt-kicking chick and has a promising future as an actress.” One of Ms. Stone’s representatives read my review and complimented me for giving her a favorable critique.

Wow, someone in the business is actually reading my words! What a boost to my confidence.

So, when a friend suggested a girls’ night out to the movies to see “Easy A,” I was all for it. It was another chance to watch Emma Stone perform her magic. Four of us, 40 years old and older, went to see a teen comedy. Would we get it? Would we enjoy it just as much as it was geared for the younger crowd?

Here is my review of Easy A –

Easy A
Written by: Bert V Royal
Directed by: Will Gluck
Studio-Sony Pictures/Screen Gem

This hilarious romantic teen comedy, written by first-time screenwriter Bert V Royal, is bursting with laugh-out-loud rapid-fire dialogue and an intelligent, savvy heroine you will want to root for. The adults in the audience will be wildly amused by the references to John Hughes so deftly interwoven into the story by director Will Gluck.

A superb supporting cast rounds out this movie, which will be enjoyed by all ages 13 and older. Standouts are Dill (Stanley Tucci) and Rosemary (Patricia Clarkson), who are a scream as Olive’s funny screwball parents.

It all begins innocently enough when Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) tells her gossip-hungry best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka, of CW’s “Hellcats”) a little white lie. She concocts a story that she is going on a date with some college guy (imaginary), so she won’t have to endure going on a weekend camping trip with Rhiannon’s nudist hippie parents. But on Monday, Rhiannon wants all the dirty details and badgers her until Olive gives in and announces-

She is no longer a virgin!

The confession is over by self-righteously religious Marianne (Amanda Byrnes), who blabs in turn, and the news runs rampant throughout the corridors of Ojai High School. Literally, overnight, Olive has become the class slut.

Olive’s troubled gay friend, Brandon (Dan Byrd) of (ABC’s “Cougartown”) is constantly being bullied for his sexual orientation and asks for her help. Now that she’s already told one white lie, what’s one more going to hurt? He wants her to “pretend” to have sex with him at an upcoming party. She agrees, the act is (with great theatrics and overheard by their fellow party goers) consummated and her dirty reputation is sealed.

Relishing her newfound popularity, Olive embraces her inner bad girl and wears skimpy clothes. “The Scarlet Letter” is being studied in her English class and a fellow student of Olive’s, a disciple of Marianne, Nina (Mahaley Hessan) suggest she wear an A to signify her wantonly ways. Never one to back down, Olive sews a big red “A” to all her corsets as a tribute to Hawthorne’s sexual outcast, Hester Prynne.

She embarks on a campaign of letting nerds and dweebs “score” with her while she collects “gift cards” and money for her services. Olive believes she is helping these guys with their low self-esteem while she gains her own brand of notoriety. That is, until she is ostracized from everyone else.

Her troubled conscience gets the best of her, and she takes it upon herself to tell her side of the story at a pep rally in a uniquely satisfying way.

Emma Stone is a charismatic, intelligent, magnetic, comedic force of nature. It will be a pleasure to witness this multi-talented actress’s brilliant career unfold. Critics give her an 84% approval rating on the Tomatometer, while movie viewers score her 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

So, keep writing and evoking your passion. You never know who will read your words and the impact it will make.

Movie trivia – Exciting news for Emily Stone and all her fans! Sony Pictures wants to cast Emma as a female lead in the next, “Spiderman”. She is also considered for the lead in Jonah Hill’s (they co-starred as love interests in “Superbad”) “21 Jump Street,” which he co-wrote and is producing.

Since all three of these movies fall under the umbrella of Sony Pictures, it can be concluded that this studio knows they have a treasure in their midst and want to keep it that way.

Toni Schram

Toni Schram is co-president at Club B, a Northern California women’s club that raises funds for various charities while having a great time. Her dream is to have her screenplay made into a movie.