Viewed in
2011
Formats
DVD
Premise
Emma Stone stars as a high school girl whose life snowballs out of control after she lies about having sex with a guy.
Loved
The charming cast, funny dialog.
Disliked
The messy subplots.
Thoughts
A mostly smart and funny teenage film.
I really enjoyed the dialog and themes in writing. For the majority of the time, I was laughing out loud at the quirky, irreverent zingers from teens, teachers, and parents alike. The writers got a lot of mileage out of the humorous, introspective monologues, such as the essay on 1980's teen flicks, and universal teenage angst. Having adult characters who were just as witty as the youngsters still felt fresh and different.
Overall, the cast was extremely likable. Emma Stone definitely proved her worth as the charming, insightful high schooler lead with natural ease. Plus, she finally filled my void of sexy redhead celebrity gal long-vacated by Lindsay Lohan. Amanda Bynes and unknown Alyson Michalka both put in hilarious supporting performances. As for the adults, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, and Thomas Haden Church also hit home runs with their charm and delivery.
The story aspect of the writing had some room for improvement. I found the subplots, especially Lisa Kudrow's, to be rather messy. Granted they're teens, but based on how smart they think and talk, I was occasionally annoyed at characters' habit of not saying the most logical thing just to keep the story going.
While I enjoyed the dialog, they were one shade too sharp to be plausible. It seemed like writer Bert V. Royal loved his one-liners just a bit more than his characters. For example, I adored Tucci and Clarkson as Stone's parents, but as a liberal Californian, even I found their uber-lenient views on sex, teenage autonomy to be incredible, and frankly, a little insulting.
I recommend this teenage comedy for its brains, themes, and charm. It was very much in the same vein (and quality) as contemporaries, Saved! and Mean Girls, though not as biting. Also, it had a little bit too much of a Juno dialogue complex. I would totally watch this with my teenage kids, if I had any.
What I would change
Taken out the Lisa Kudrow subplot, and devoted more of that time to Stone's relationships with the male love interest or her best friend.
