Emma Stone Gets an "Easy A"

That which was old is new again.

Since the mid-1990s, the cinematic trend of updating classic literature into frothy teen romps has, with varying levels of success, launched such camp classics as Clueless (inspired by Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma), Cruel Intentions (Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos), Ten Things I Hate About You (Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew), and She’s the Man (Twelfth Night).

With the much buzzed-about release of Easy A, a re-mastering of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19th century tale of adultery and pious prudence, The Scarlet Letter, audiences will be treated to the best offering from the genre since Amy Heckerling and Alicia Silverstone went rollin’ with the homies in 1995.

Newly minted It Girl (and Lindsay Lohan thunder-stealer) Emma Stone stars as Olive Penderghast, a high schooler who takes a page from her assigned reading material and uses Hawthorne’s lessons to grease the school’s rumor mill, upping her social and financial standing. Under the sure-handed direction of Will Glick (Fired Up), Stone is a captivating and capable ring master who took great pleasure in sinking her teeth into Bert V. Royal’s bitingly witty script.

“Bert is so fantastic,” Stone gushes in her trademark rasp as she smoothes the layers of her dusty blue floral-printed McQ dress and takes a sip of a freshly filled cup of coffee. “Olive and her perspectives were so fleshed out on the page that my only challenge was trying to do that justice. I loved how clever and witty Bert was about issues that are really important.”

She explains that one of the things that magnetically drew her to the role was the way the script never pandered to the audience but still addressed meaningful topics that anyone could relate to. “[They] just happen to be [seen] through a high school girl’s eyes,” she says. “The subject of gossip, judging a book by its cover without knowing the full story, extremism, technology and they way information travels, the speed of everything. Like when Olive says something and it goes all the way around [the school] and gets back to her and it’s been thirty seconds. What’s messed up is that’s actually the way things happen.”

Stone has equally enthusiastic praise for her director. In fact, the mere mention of Gluck’s name incites her to smack the table and proclaim, “Will, I love him! Don’t tell him I ever said that.” According to both the actress and the director, they share a sibling-like bond that allows for unmitigated ribbing and serious blunt honesty. “He calls me out on everything!” Stone groans, rolling her eyes in mock-annoyance. “He doesn’t let anything slide. If I’m like, ‘Ahhh, that sucked,’” she mopingly sighs, “He’s like, ‘That did suck. Go again.’ That’s what I like! People who are honest with you push you to be better.”

For the 21-year-old starlet, Gluck’s brand of candor was exactly what she needed in her first leading role, one that demanded her constant onscreen presence and would succeed or fail entirely on her performance. “I was a little [anxious] the whole time,” Stone admits, chuckling. “I didn’t know I was such a micro-manager, but I am. I had to be up first and be there last every day. In my spare time, I’d try to sleep, which I wasn’t doing too much of. I think it was less about the size of the role and more about wanting to do the character justice. But that pressure didn’t come from anyone else, it was all self-inflicted.”

That voluntary creative flagellation, mixed with innate, god-given talent and a strong work ethic, created a performance that has everyone in Hollywood sitting up, taking notice and searching for labels to help them define such a remarkable young star. As far as any similarities to Lindsay Lohan (the red hair, the throaty rasp, the high school movie rocketing her into the stratosphere), Stone refuses to comment, instead offering a wry, knowing grin. She is, however, quick to bat away her newfound title as The Next Big Thing. “That’s nice,” Stone shrugs, “but it’s such a fleeting label to put on someone. A week later they say ‘And this girl is the new It Girl…’ I just hope I get to keep working steadily because it’s been nice to call this my only job. My ultimate goal is to not have to go work somewhere else. I’m so lucky and happy to be here, today. It’s amazing now and I’m just trying to appreciate it.”

Easy A opens September 17

Movie Review: "Paper Man"

"Paper Man" is the story of one man's decoupaged life as it swings back and forth over the transom between reality and fantasy. Like the concept, the film is a patchwork of potential that never comes together seamlessly.

Jeff Daniels stars as Richard Dunn, a frustrated, failed writer who garrisons himself over the winter in Montauk, Long Island, a locale better known as a summer playground for upwardly mobile New Yorkers. Dropped off by his surgeon wife, Claire (Lisa Kudrow), he's left with nothing but a bad case of writer's block and his imaginary friend, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds). On an epic mission of procrastination, Richard meets Abby (Emma Stone), a local girl whose sullen spunkiness intrigues him enough to hire her as a baby sitter, despite his lack of children.

The idea of a man who needs a babysitter without the baby is more than a plot point, it's the perfect metaphor for Richard's struggle which is skillfully captured by Daniels' rubbery face and tremendous acting dexterity. Equally compelling is Stone, whose character, haunted by childhood mistakes, shares more with Richard than you might expect. Stone's time on screen is surprisingly masterful and you can't help but wonder how miserable Lindsay Lohan must be now that there's a new redhead, raspy-voiced Lolita in town. The only difference is, Stone can actually act and is magnetic as a girl whose loneliness and sorrow rest on a hair-trigger that goes well beyond teenage angst.

Kudrow is aptly suffocating as the wife who treats her husband more like a charge then the man she vowed to spend her life with and Reynolds, with bleach blonde hair in tights and a cape, is enjoyable as the imaginary childhood friend Richard can't part with, but you wish he'd push it further.

Performance quality isn't the problem with "Paper Man," tone is. Just as the audience feels like they can relax into Richard and Abby’s unlikely, "Lost in Translation"-style friendship, it becomes a film about martial issues. Or is it a film about mental illness? Is it a comedy? A drama? A weepy heart-tugger? Striving to be all of the above, "Paper Man" is an enjoyable film that could have been greater than the sum of its very disjointed parts.