Review: Can't Do Without "The Help" Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 103 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Help (2011)
Running time: 146 minutes (2 hours, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic material
DIRECTOR: Tate Taylor
WRITER: Tate Taylor (based upon the novel by Kathryn Stockett)
PRODUCERS: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, and Brunson Green
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen Goldblatt (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Hughes Winborne
COMPOSER: Thomas Newman

DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O’Reilly, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Eleanor and Emma Henry (twins), Chris Lowell, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek, Brian Kerwin, Aunjanue Ellis, Leslie Jordan, Nelsan Ellis, and David Oyelowo

The Help is a 2011 historical drama that is based on the 2009 bestselling novel, The Help, from author Kathryn Stockett. Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, the film focuses on an aspiring author who decides to write a book detailing the experiences of the Black women who work as maids in the homes of White families.

After graduating from Ole Miss, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone) returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. She takes a job at a local newspaper writing a “homemaker hints” advice column. However, Skeeter’s mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), wants her daughter to (1) be a southern society girl and (2) find a husband. Skeeter reconnects with her vacuous childhood friends who are all now young mothers and form a clique led by the snooty Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard).

Two things change Skeeter’s life. She does not believe her mother’s story about why Constantine Bates (Cicely Tyson), the beloved black maid who raised Skeeter, left the family. Skeeter also becomes uncomfortable with the attitude of her friends towards “the help,” the African-American maids who cook and clean for white folks, as well as parent their bosses’ children. Hilly becomes obsessed with the notion that the help not use their bosses’ bathrooms, so she launches the “Home Help Sanitation Initiative” a law that would require that homes have separate bathrooms for the help.

In response, Skeeter approaches Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), the maid of her friend, Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O’Reilly), and asks her if she would mind being interviewed about her life spent taking care of other people’s homes. Reluctant at first, Aibileen consents and is also able to convince another maid, the sassy Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), to contribute. As the women forge an unlikely friendship, they get caught in a turbulent time of change and the Civil Rights Movement.

Writer/director Tate Taylor often plays upon the proverbial “quiet dignity” of the Black maids, but his film comes on like a locomotive, because behind the quiet dignity is steely determination. This movie has such power to convey its messages and its ideas that I sometimes felt physically unprepared for the emotional toll it had on me – whether those emotions were happy or sad. I say that The Help is well-written and directed and has a number of exceptional performances because of its ability to convey with authenticity story, character, and setting.

As for the performances: Jessica Chastain is a scene-stealer as Celia Foote, the naïve young wife with child-bearing issues. Chastain crafts Celia as a struggle between the strength underneath and the soft-hearted nature that is the candy-coating. Bryce Dallas Howard is white-hot evil as the snotty racist, Hilly Holbrook, but she frequently and subtly reveals the character’s humanity at surprising moments.

Sadly, I see Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer’s bravura performances getting lost during the movie critics and film industry awards season. Emma Stone’s Skeeter is The Help’s bridge between the two separate worlds of Black and White, and she is a player on all sides of a class conflict. However, Viola Davis’ Aibileen Clark is this movie’s true anchor. Not only does Davis give a great performance, but she also embodies in Aibileen the toughness that makes an oppressed people both survive the evil ruling class and have the true grit to fight that evil.

Octavia Spencer’s Minny Jackson is simply one of those great supporting characters whose fight and spunk define the central conflict in a movie. At the end of the day, she’s not going to take anything from anyone that is the wrong thing, and The Help is about getting to what is the right thing. While Emma Stone gives a good performance, it is easy to see how she gets lost in a sea of superb performances, although Skeeter is the most important player – the central character that connects the disparate parts.

If I had to point to the one thing that makes The Help a grand film, it is that the emotions are genuine; they feel real. Writer/director Tate Taylor and his cast create a series of moments and scenes that come together to weave a narrative, one which comes to life with a sense of authenticity. When Aibileen talks about her son’s tragedy; when Minny fights her husband and employers; when Aibileen has to step to the side while grocery shopping; when Celia Foote yearns for a child; when Skeeter angrily explains to her mother the wrong done to Constantine, it all feels real. It is as if The Help were a true story. In a way, it is a true story, one told with fictional characters from a real time and place. That is why The Help is a bona fide standout in a field of fantasias and made-up stuff movies.

9 of 10
A+

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

"The Help" Passes $200 Million in Worldwide Box Office

DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media’s “The Help” Surpasses $200M Worldwide

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DreamWorks Pictures announced Dec. 8 that its empowering film “The Help” has surpassed $200 million in worldwide ticket sales. “The Help,” directed and written for the screen by Tate Taylor, is based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett.

“The Help” has resonated with audiences around the globe, sparking conversation and comments across all media platforms from such notables as Oprah, Scott Fujita, Tyler Perry, Russell Simmons, Katy Perry, Diane Sawyer, Jason Whitlock, Jackie Jackson and others.

“The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. Also starring Bryce Dallas Howard (“Hereafter”), Allison Janney (“Juno”), Academy Award®–winner Sissy Spacek (“In the Bedroom,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter”) and Jessica Chastain (“Tree of Life”), “The Help” is deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope—a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change.

Rounding out the cast are Ahna O’Reilly (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), Cicely Tyson (“Sounder,” “Fried Green Tomatoes”), Chris Lowell (“Up in the Air”), Mike Vogel (“Blue Valentine”), Aunjanue Ellis (“Ray”) and Mary Steenburgen (“Did You Hear About the Morgans?”).

From DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment, in association with Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, “The Help” was produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan.

“The Help” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Review: "Crazy, Stupid, Love." is Crazy, Stupid, Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 102 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language
DIRECTORS: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
WRITER: Dan Fogelman
PRODUCERS: Steve Carell and Denise Di Novi
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Dunn
EDITOR: Lee Haxall
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck and Nick Urata

COMEDY/ROMANCE/DRAMA

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Joey King, Marisa Tomei, Beth Littleford, John Carroll Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Liza Lapira, Josh Groban, and Algerita Lewis

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a 2011 romantic comedy starring Steve Carell (who is also one of the film’s producers) and Julianne Moore. The film is essentially an ensemble comedy, but the central focus is a couple whose 20-year marriage dissolves. The title fits the film perfectly, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. gets crazy and stupid enough to make me love it, in spite of my best efforts to act as if I were above liking this kind of romantic comedy.

While dining out one night, Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) gets some shocking news from his wife of 20 years, Emily (Julianne Moore). Not only does she want a divorce, but Emily also admits to having sex with one of her coworkers, an accountant named David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon). Cal moves out of their home and begins to frequent a popular bar, where his complaints catch the sympathetic ear of a dashing young womanizer, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling).

Jacob teaches the fine art of womanizing to Cal, who eventually begins a series of one-night stands. However, Jacob soon meets the one woman that can tame him, Hannah (Emma Stone), a young law student. In the meantime, Jessica Riley (Analeigh Tipton), the 17-year-old girl who baby sits Cal’s children, falls in love with Cal. However, Cal’s 13-year-old son, Robbie Weaver (Jonah Bobo), is madly in love with Jessica. As love goes mad all around him, Cal still can’t stop wanting to reunite with Emily, but does she want the same thing?

Crazy, Stupid, Love. could have the words “awkward” and “misunderstanding,” added to the title, as the film strains credulity with a number of timely coincidences. These lead to set pieces which depict one embarrassing moment after another for one or more characters. By the way, all the characters seem pretty much the same and are shallow; they are lovable, but still shallow. Still, mortification is what makes this movie such a sweet romantic film. Being married and/or being a parent is bittersweet, but you love your loved ones even in those moments when you hate them or when they embarrass and humiliate you.

Crazy, Stupid, Love., for all its contrivances, gets that, and Dan Fogelman’s script weaves the contrived and the coincidental into a lovely tale of committed love. There is a huge and shocking reveal in the movie’s last act and a speech near the end of the film that should both make us cringe. Instead, they exemplify the ability of Crazy, Stupid, Love. to make us stupid, crazy in love with it.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Warner Bros. Begins "The Gangster Squad" with Sean Penn and Josh Brolin

“The Gangster Squad” Hits the Streets of Los Angeles

Shooting begins on the crime drama starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography began today on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “The Gangster Squad,” starring Oscar® nominees Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “True Grit”) and Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “Blue Valentine”), Emma Stone (“The Help”) and Academy Award® winner Sean Penn (“Milk,” “Mystic River”), under the direction of Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”).

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and—if he has his way—every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop…except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

Shooting entirely in and around Los Angeles, including in many of the actual locations featured in the story, “The Gangster Squad” is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time. The screenplay is by Will Beall (TV’s “Castle”), based on Paul Lieberman’s series of articles entitled “Tales From the Gangster Squad.” The film is being produced by Dan Lin (“Sherlock Holmes”), Kevin McCormick (upcoming “The Lucky One”) and Michael Tadross (“Arthur”).

“The Gangster Squad” stars Penn as real-life mobster Mickey Cohen; Brolin and Gosling as the LAPD’s Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters; and Stone as Grace Faraday, Cohen’s moll and the object of Wooters’ attention.

The movie also stars Robert Patrick (“Flags of Our Fathers”) as Officer Max Kennard, a deadly cop who patrols the Olvera Street beat; Michael Peña (“Battle Los Angeles”) as Kennard’s over-eager sidekick, Navidad Ramirez; Giovanni Ribisi (“Avatar”) as the force’s Conway Keeler, an electronics expert who takes as much pleasure in fixing his son’s bike as he does tinkering with experimental, military-grade equipment; and Anthony Mackie (“The Adjustment Bureau”) as Coleman Harris, a switchblade-wielding cop who proudly patrols one of the most crime-ridden areas of the city.

Joining Fleischer behind the scenes are the director’s regular collaborators, production designer Maher Ahmad and editor Alan Baumgarten (“30 Minutes or Less,” “Zombieland”), as well as Academy Award®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe (“Memoirs of a Geisha”) and Oscar®-nominated costume designer Mary Zophres (“True Grit”).

“The Gangster Squad” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

Viola Davis Justified! "The Help" Skips Past $100 Million Mark

“The Help” Surpasses $100M at Domestic Box Office

DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media’s Empowering Film Engages Audiences Nationwide

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DreamWorks Pictures announced today that its inspiring film “The Help” has surpassed the $100 million mark at the domestic box office. “The Help,” directed and written for the screen by Tate Taylor, is based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett.

Ever since opening in the U.S. on August 10th, “The Help” has been a strong contender for the top spot on the domestic box office chart and has resonated with audiences around the country, sparking conversation and comments across all media platforms from such notables as Oprah, Scott Fujita, Tyler Perry, Russell Simmons, Katy Perry, Diane Sawyer, Jason Whitlock, Jackie Jackson and others.

Commenting on the widespread popularity of the film, Director Tate Taylor says, “We never imagined this film, which began its journey inspired by the enthusiasm of a small group of Mississippi friends, would ever even get made. Now to have it seen and embraced by so many people is just beyond our wildest dreams.”

Adds Dave Hollis, Executive Vice President, Motion Picture Sales & Distribution, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, “This achievement is a testament to an amazing ensemble cast and a wonderfully told story that has played well to men and women, young and old, resonating in a cross-section of all theaters be they urban, upscale or heartland. The viral power of word-of-mouth has us hopeful that we’ll continue to see ‘The Help’ exposed to as broad an audience as possible in the coming months.”

“The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. Also starring Bryce Dallas Howard (“Hereafter”), Allison Janney (“Juno”), Academy Award®–winner Sissy Spacek (“In the Bedroom,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter”) and Jessica Chastain (“Tree of Life”), “The Help” is deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope—a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change.

Rounding out the cast are Ahna O’Reilly (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), Cicely Tyson (“Sounder,” “Fried Green Tomatoes”), Chris Lowell (“Up in the Air”), Mike Vogel (“Blue Valentine”), Aunjanue Ellis (“Ray”) and Mary Steenburgen (“Did You Hear About the Morgans?).

From DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment, in association with Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, “The Help” was produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan.

“The Help” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Review: "Superbad" is a Top High School Comedy (Happy B'day, Michael Cera)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 121 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superbad (2007)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use, and a fantasy/comic violent image – all involving teens
DIRECTOR: Greg Mottola
WRITERS: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
PRODUCERS: Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russ T. Alsobrook
EDITOR: William Kerr

COMEDY

Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Kevin Corrigan, Joe Lo Truglio, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva, and Erica Vittina Phillips

Sex, drugs, and booze may not necessarily make you happy, but they can make for an incredibly funny movie… in the right hands.

When he isn’t writing and directing hit films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Judd Apatow finds time to produce hits like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby or the new film, Superbad. It’s the uproarious cautionary tale/coming-of-age story about two socially inept childhood pals. They are about to graduate from high school and go their own way when one panic-driven night reaffirms their super-close friendship.

Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are two codependent high school seniors. No, Seth and Evan have a ridiculously dependent relationship, but now, they’ll be forced to separate because they’ve both been accepted to different colleges. It seems as if the quiet, sweet, and smart Evan managed to get into Dartmouth, while volatile, foul-mouthed Seth didn’t. Combine this duo with their friend, the arrogant nerd, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who also got into Dartmouth, and they form an unholy, horny trinity.

It’s three week before they graduate, and they want to hook up with girls before they go off to different colleges. Thanks to a fake I.D. card that Fogell has obtained, Seth promises Jules (Emma Stone), a girl he lusts after, that he can buy some alcohol for a party she is throwing. Evan makes the same promise to Becca (Martha MacIsaac), the girl he’s always secretly loved. However, after a calamitous night of trying to score booze for the party that involves a convenience store hold up, two crazy cops, and another thoroughly adult party, Seth and Evan find overcoming separation anxiety is a bigger obstacle than getting girls and alcohol.

Before Superbad reaches the ten-minute mark, it already has more coarse and crude language than most mainstream comedies or many R-rated comedies for that matter have in their entire runtime. In spite of the raunchy language and racy subject matter, Superbad rings with honesty. Many viewers will find that to some extent it resembles their own high school lives, especially if they were born after the 1950’s. Writers Seth Rogen (who also stars in the film) and Evan Goldberg are smart enough not to divide the school into jocks and losers. In real high school, even the nerds and geeks know the beautiful people, at least in passing. It’s not as if a “loser” can never get to say “Hi” to the popular people and athletes.

In Seth and Evan, Rogen and Goldberg have created genuine high school kids and genuine high school pals. From the moment the two first appear on screen together, there is a moment of recognition in the viewers who are really paying attention. Seth and Evan’s adventures may be over the top and even dangerous, but we can laugh. In their raunchy verbal jousting, we recognize that the two say what they do because they don’t know crap about sex. We’ve all been there. If we’ve never spoken the vileness that they do, we feel the truth in their friendship and the pain in their coming separation as they enter adulthood.

Now, the overall plot and the thin story don’t amount to much, but that isn’t important. The fine cast of comic actors hits the right notes, and that is what’s important. Superbad feels like the real thing – one the very best high school comedies ever. Superbad is supergood.

7 of 10
A-

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Twilight Eclipses 2011 MTV Movie Awards

The MTV Movie Awards began in 1992.  Hosted by Jason Sudeikis, the 20th annual MTV Movie Awards aired live on Sunday, June 5, at 9 p.m. ET, from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight movie franchise, dominated the ceremony by winning 5 of the 13 categories.  Rising star Chloë Grace Moretz won two categories.

20th Annual MTV Movie Award WINNERS:

Best Movie Winner
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed by David Slade

Best Female Performance Winner
Kristen Stewart
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed by David Slade

Best Male Performance Winner
Robert Pattinson
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed by David Slade

Best Comedic Performance Winner
Emma Stone
Easy A
Directed by Will Gluck

Best Scared-As-S**t Performance Winner
Ellen Page
Inception
Directed by Christopher Nolan

Best Line From A Movie Winner
"I want to get chocolate wasted!"
Alexys Nycole Sanchez
Grown Ups
Directed by Dennis Dugan

MTV Generation Award Winner
Reese Witherspoon

Best Kiss Winner
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed by David Slade

Best Fight Winner
Robert Pattinson vs. Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed by David Slade

Best Breakout Star Winner
Chloë Grace Moretz
Kick-Ass
Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Biggest Badass Star Winner
Chloë Grace Moretz

Best Jaw Dropping Moment Winner
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Directed by Jon M. Chu

Best Villain Winner
Tom Felton
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Directed by David Yates

Mary J. Blige Pens and Records Song for "The Help"

Super-Star Mary J. Blige Records Original Song for DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media’s “The Help”

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DreamWorks Pictures and Geffen Records announced today that multiple Grammy® Award–winning recording artist Mary J. Blige wrote and recorded an original song for the soundtrack of DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media’s THE HELP, a film based on the New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, opening in theaters August 12, 2011. “The Help” soundtrack - music from the Motion picture, will feature the original song from Mary J. Blige “The Living Proof.” The soundtrack, from Interscope Records, will be available Tuesday, July 26 at select Starbucks locations.

The song, “The Living Proof,” was written and recorded by Blige especially for THE HELP after she saw a screening of the film, which takes place in 1960s-era Mississippi and chronicles the journey of three very different women who come together and embark on a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. “The beautiful thing about these women is that they were very smart,” says Blige. “They chose to walk in love and forgiveness.”

The film really celebrates the courage to inspire change, “To speak to so many women with this song means a lot to me,” says Blige. “I wanted to be involved with this film, because I think we need to encourage each other more, we are here to tell a story.”

Blige has received 9 Grammy® Awards and four American Music Awards as well as recorded eight multi-platinum albums. Mary J. Blige has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and her next album "My Life Too....The Journey Continues" will be released Sept 20, 2011.


ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope, “The Help” is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change.

From DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media, “The Help” is directed by Tate Taylor and produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, with screenplay by Tate Taylor. “The Help” releases in theaters August 12, 2011.

THE HELP Mary J Blige VNR is also available at http://www.epk.tv/

Tom Hardy Wins "Rising Star" BAFTA

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

TOM HARDY Winner

GEMMA ARTERTON

ANDREW GARFIELD

AARON JOHNSON

EMMA STONE

Annette Bening Wins Best Actress Musical/Comedy Golden Globe

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy:

Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right WINNER

Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs

Angelina Jolie for The Tourist

Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right

Emma Stone for Easy A

Emma Stone Gets an A for "Easy A"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Easy A (2010)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen sexuality, language and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Will Gluck
WRITER: Bert V. Royal
PRODUCERS: Zanne Devine and Will Gluck
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Grady
EDITOR: Susan Littenberg
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY

Starring: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Aly Michalka, Penn Badgley, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Bryce Clyde Jenkins, Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Dan Byrd, Cam Gigandet, Fred Armisen, and Malcolm McDowell

The recent teen comedy, Easy A, takes as its inspiration the classic American novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Easy A focuses on a clean-cut high school student who uses rumor and innuendo to improve her social status at school.

At Ojai North High School, no one really notices Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone), except her bitchy best friend, Rhiannon Abernathy (Aly Michalka). It is to Rhiannon that Olive lies about losing her virginity to a college student, and, in what seems like an instant, that little white lie is all over campus. This causes Olive to run afoul of the campus Christian crusader, Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes). Olive compounds that first lie by helping Brandon (Dan Byrd), her gay friend who is being bullied, stage an act to trick their fellow students into believing that Dan is now straight. Soon, however, Olive learns that being the talk of the school isn’t necessarily a good thing – especially when the talk is that you are easy and a whore.

Although it belongs to the well-worn teen comedy genre, Easy A is fresh and spry. Much of the credit for that should go to the film’s star, Emma Stone, who comes across as being much more mature than her age (22) would suggest. This film’s plot, pacing, and philosophy flow through her, and Stone handles it with ease, talent, and uncommon professionalism for an actress her age.

The other thing that makes Easy A seem different is that it is real or tells its tale by dealing with issues and situations confronted by real teenagers. Director Will Gluck and screenwriter Bert V. Royal are able to mine so much excellent comedy, humor, and satire from that realism. Easy A rips people apart for being so hypocritical and judgmental. It derives humor not only from that, but also from the fact that people are often critical of others to cover for something about themselves they don’t like.

The film understands that the complicated, rough and tumble politics of high school are a microcosm of what happens in the larger world. We all want to be accepted and loved, and yes, we will use other people and tell lies to get our way.

Easy A is brutally honest and funny. Sometimes, it isn’t as clever as the filmmakers think it is, which makes the film awkward, especially in the last act. Still, I give this movie credit for being a teen film that tackles the high school rumor mill and social ladder with such sparkling wit and lack of political correctness. Easy A envisions teen angst and the high school drama from a different angle, and the reward for watching it is a memorably good time at the movies.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

NOTES:
2011 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Emma Stone)