Easy A (PG-13) ★★★

Easy A, a teen sex comedy with no actual sex, aims rather conspicuously to plumb the best bits of Diablo Cody and Alexander Payne in its upside-down, self-consciously campy take on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. In the role of its high-school Hester Prynne is Emma Stone, the sly, husky heroine of last year's surprise hit Zombieland. Tested by a film that is far less clever than its director, Will Gluck, or screenwriter, Bert Royal, would have us believe (and they desperately want us to believe), she passes with flying colors, delivering a performance that should elevate her into the upper echelon of actresses possessing brains and beauty in equal measure.

Stone plays Olive, the kind of quick-witted, hyper-literate teen that our educational system produces in ever-diminishing numbers. (If it ever produced them to begin with.) More knowing and sophisticated than others her age, she is nonetheless not immune to the pressure of peers and the dread of being labeled a loser. Under duress by a prying friend (Aly Michalka) to dish the details of her birthday weekend, a rather mundane affair mainly spent jumping on her bed to the tune of Natasha Bedingfield's pop monstrosity "Pocket Full of Sunshine," she feels compelled to embellish a bit, and concocts an entirely fictional account of losing her virginity (dubbed the "V-Card" by Royal, trying too hard) to a boy from a junior college across town.

Word of Olive's deflowering spreads with startling speed, aided by the incessant rumor-mongering of a catty Evangelical eavesdropper (Amanda Bynes). Suddenly branded a tramp on account of a seemingly harmless little lie, Olive opts to embrace her newly tarnished reputation and put it to good use. In a viciously stratified social environment where even the most awkward, acne-plagued pariah can earn respect and even admiration from members of the upper castes for having gone All the Way, Olive anoints herself the Mother Theresa of (fake) sluts, bestowing her blessing upon downtrodden gents in need of a reputation boost. And she resolves to look the part, too, traipsing around in scandalous bustiers and affixing the letter "A" to her chest.

There are limits to Easy A's Scarlet Letter conceit, overly Glee-ful tone, forced repartee, and pop-culture references (John Hughes is invoked so many times, he should get a producer credit). Which is why director Gluck must be grateful to have found Stone, who handles the verbal calisthenics of Royal's script with charm and verve and a certain effortless appeal that keeps us engaged even as the film wallows in contrived irony and heavy-handedness. Keep your eye on her.

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.