[7]

Move over, Lindsay Lohan (or at least flail further down the gutter.) There’s a new mean girl in town, and her name is Emma Stone. Easy A is the perfect vehicle for Stone, who shows natural charm and considerable range as a highschooler who decides to lie about losing her virginity. Before she realizes what she’s done, she’s created a whole whorish persona for herself. And nary a cherry is popped. Most of the funny parts fall in the first half of the movie, but Stone is empathetic enough to carry us through the slightly more dramatic second half. The impressive supporting cast includes Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci, hamming it up as Stone’s hippie parents, and Amanda Bynes, who takes her prior role in Hairspray and ups the ante ten-fold. Easy A will remind you of a John Hughes movie in ways both subtle and overt, but the homage isn’t cheap. By the time uber-anthem “(Don’t You) Forget About Me” pops up in the soundtrack, the movie has respectfully earned the right to brandish it. With Thomas Haden Church, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Fred Armisen, and Malcolm McDowell.