Recently, the new movie “Easy A,” starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley and Amanda Bynes, premiered in theaters across the nation.

Influenced strongly by the novel “The Scarlet Letter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the movie is based around a girl named Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) who, up until the start of the story, has gone previously unnoticed by the majority of her peers.

This changes when she is overheard by the school’s ‘Jesus freak,’ Marianna, lying to her best friend about having sex with a college guy.

As we all know about high school, bad news travels fast and before long, Olive’s lie becomes public knowledge and everyone believes it to be true.

Her lies escalate and students start coming out of the woodwork, asking for a chance at a fake relationship with her in order to boost their reputations with the student body.

However, as others’ reputations soar, her rep falls farther and farther down.

This movie was surprisingly smart and witty. It had well-written dialogue and equally well-timed jokes, which not only catered to the masses but had high brow and intelligent humor that will speak to many.

This movie also transcends gender barriers. The story is not overly focused on Olive’s pursuit of a guy or on drama that guys cannot relate to.

It is a simple story and therein lies its greatness. The story is interesting, well-thought out and will please almost any crowd.

It also has a great message; anyone who is familiar with the inner workings of high school-which is everyone- will enjoy it.

The acting in the movie was very good. Emma Stone as Olive was very believable and she told the story well.

Amanda Bynes was a big surprise as the antagonist of the story. Differing from her usual typecasting as a unique and adventurous youth looking for love or a lost parent, she was incredibly believable as the bad guy and did well in the role.

Some of the best scenes, however, were with Olive’s family. They were quirky and fun and I found myself wishing to see more of them.

Overall, the movie was an easy A, pun intended. It had a good story that was unique and funny as well as memorable and well-done. It was just as long as it needed to be and the movie never felt slow.

If you have ever had rumors spread about you, felt ostracized, or simply enjoy the well-crafted teenage comedy, this movie is a must-see.