Discuss: Can Emma Stone Carry a Film on Her Own?

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 30, 2009

There’s no denying or tip-toeing around the crush that most of us here at FSR have on Emma Stone. Or the crush that most of you have judging by the fan emails we’re receiving – which, by the way, why not just send straight to her? We honestly can’t pass them along for you. Also, whoever keeps sending me the emails about trading in my gold teeth for cash, if you could please stop reminding me that I couldn’t even afford gold teeth, that would be great. These wooden fillings are killing me.

Transitioning smoothly, it seems clear that we’ve all had a similar experience – the eye-glassed hottie catching our eye in Superbad out of the blue, giving us a little more personality in The Rocker and then stepping a few more feet toward the spotlight in The House Bunny. She’s been a great, very recognizable focal point in those flicks, but she’s always been a supporting cast member until now.

Variety reported a few days ago that Stone is in negotiations to star in the film Easy A, a modern/meta re-telling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” in which the lead character pretends to be the high school doorknob in order to gain popularity.

Despite my concern that this could turn out to be middling teenager fare, my real concern is that Stone will show up in this flick as the same character she’s played – the slightly awkward, yet full-of-potential girl who removes her glasses and becomes hot. It would be much cooler to see the tone of the flick and her acting look more like The Girl Next Door or Mean Girls than, say, anything Amanda Bynes has done.

Of course, that leads to the main question: Emma Stone has been great as a geeky love interest, but can she star? For once, I’m on the fence. Will Gluck, the guy who rocked out Fired Up, is directing which concerns me – makes it seem like this thing will have the same tone and feel of a direct-to-DVD teenage comedy with flat jokes and a food fight somewhere in the second act. But who knows – maybe Stone can give the movie the life it needs.

What do you think? Have you been getting those emails about gold teeth? Do they even do gold fillings anymore?

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius