Script Review: Easy A

Genre: Comedy
Premise: A high-school girl decides to pretend to be a slut to become popular. It's loosely based on the book everyone has to read in high school, "The Scarlet Letter". Emma Stone is set to star.
Writer: Bert V. Royal (Dated August 3, 2008)

The lovely Emma Stone

Ok, not sure what to expect from this film. Would it be another great raunchy R-rated comedy in vein of Superbad? Or would it be another cliche teen fluff pic that floods the market every year. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a lot closer to the former. (and bare with me, it's been a while since I've read the script.)

The plot is pretty straightforward. Olive lies to her best friend about losing her virginity, and the uber-Christian Marianne overhears and lets the rumors spread. And then a closeted gay comes to Olive with an offer. He'll pay her to pretend to sleep with him, that way all the jocks will stop picking on him. Word spreads like wildfire of this deal, and soon geeky kids are coming at her in droves with perks in hopes they'll fake sleep with her. Olive basically becomes a prostitute without the sex. And soon, Olive grows to like this lifestyle. All the guys, even ones she's actually interested in, are now very interested in her, and her ever shrinking wardrobe shows she likes this attention. If you couldn't tell, towards the end things get out of hand, and we head into the dramatic territory that films like this always venture into. But what did you expect?

Let's move on to the important stuff. All good comedies have to have one thing: comedy. There is a lot of raunchy humor to be found in this script, and the great thing is, a lot of it works. I was reminded constantly of Superbad, and that's a very good thing. (Is it a coincidence that Stone was also in Superbad?)

That's not to say it doesn't hit a few bumps in the road. Every character seems underdeveloped, even Olive. She ends up in the same place she started before all the sluttiness got to her head. All the other characters, well, we really don't know much about them. Royal even tries to slide in a romance towards the end that comes out of nowhere, really. I mean, Olive's love interest is barely mentioned until probably the 20 pages when we're supposed to believe these two have had feelings for each other for years. Boo. Why does everything have to get so cliche. I also had a problem with the adults in this script. Olive's parents could care less their daughter's a glorified whore, and the teacher's mostly let her behavior slide (although there is an interesting subplot thrown in there involving one of Olive's teacher's and his wife.)

I feel like this is definitely getting polished up in rewrites. The excessive swearing will probably be cut down, and hopefully, we get a better understanding of these characters. This premise is very interesting, and I like the direction this is headed in. Could be a great starring vehicle for Stone, come next year.

[] Somebody should be fired
[] Bad
[] Mediocre
[x] Worth the read
[] Great
[] Amazing

Unrelated Note: If you guys want a certain script reviewed, tell me in the comments. If you have it, send it my way. If you don't, I'll look for it, and then review it. I'm open to new scripts. Just let me know what you're looking for.