Easily An A-List Movie Star

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Emma Stone is gonna be one big movie star. If we liken Stone's emerging career to that of megastar actress Sandra Bullock, then Superbad, Zombieland and The House Bunny are to Stone what Demolition Man was to Bullock. By that analogy then, Easy A is going to be for Stone what Speed was for Bullock. Boy oh boy, is she gonna be big. Witty, flippant, and cute in that girl-next door kind of way, hers is a natural charm and DNA deep comic gift that can't be learnt. And given a leading role for the first time she confidently carries this high school, teen comedy squarely on her young shoulders.

It's basically about a little-noticed high school girl who goes along with a lie about losing her virginity. When the lie improves her status at school, she embraces the fib, allowing it to mutate, to the point where everybody thinks she's a slut. The script is surprisingly honest and mature, the humour both sophisticated and crass and the tone fun, yet believable. The cast are exemplary with not a weak link in the chain from Stone's worldly and amusing parents, Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci, to Amanda Bynes preachy, obnoxious Jesus Freak.

Director Will Gluck isn't afraid to acknowledge the films genre ancestors, referencing Say Anything and The Breakfast Club, not for a cheap laugh (although it is funny) but to better demonstrate the plight of Stone's morality confused heroine. It's nice that the ending isn't all neatly tied up in the end, allowing the main character to live with the consequences of her actions; it all just adds to the rare maturity of a teen genre film that's too good for just teens.

As for Stone, she's got the Spider-man reboot on the horizon. But it's going to be in smart, lead roles like in Easy A that she's going to have a long and successful Hollywood career. And when it comes to actresses, that doesn't happen very often. Tons of them look beautiful. A handful turn out to be great actresses. But very few actresses have what it takes to be movie stars. Stone will be.