Parents' Guide to Easy A

Let's get the most important point out of the way: Emma Stone is a find! Sassy, funny, and thoroughly likeable, she makes Easy A an easy sell. Her Olive commits none of the sins that so frequently undo other teen heroines. She's unpredictable, irreverent, believably impulsive, kind-hearted, and defiant at just the right moments. She elevates the film from typical teen fare to something nearly approaching the John Hughes classics that her character adores.

What keeps it from getting all the way there? The usual vilifying of nerds and popular types and religious zealots who, it has to be said, come across as painfully judgey here. In real life, there are other judgey types, so it's lazy shorthand to pin the heavy-handed self-righteousness on Christians. And though Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci are adorable as Olive's parents, you can't help but wonder whether every well-adjusted parent in a teen comedy has to be portrayed as a wise-cracking, quip-dispensing bon vivant. (See: Juno.) Olive's big love is a snooze, too (the character, not the actor -- sorry, Penn Badgley). A girl as interesting as Olive deserves a Ferris Bueller as a counterpart. But, these quibbles aside, Easy A is still great fun. Who knew Hawthorne could be this hilarious?