Running time: 92 minutes. Director: Dan Gluck. Starring: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church, Alyson Michalka.

Every generation has portraits of adolescent angst which perfectly encapsulate the teenage experience in a language that speaks loud and clear to audiences of the era.

In the 1970s it was The Last Picture Show and American Graffiti, while in the 1980s Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off struck a chord.

Clueless, Beautiful Thing and American Pie epitomised the 1990s, and in the noughties, Bring It On, Mean Girls and Juno vied for supremacy.

Now in this brave new decade we have Easy A, a delicious tale of girl power.

From its droll opening voiceover, Will Gluck's film has us in the palm of its hand, rooting for an unconventional heroine who finds the silver lining in a huge, dark cloud system over a pivotal year at high school.

Bert Royal's script glitters with tart one-liners and introduces a feisty heroine who should promote Emma Stone from scene-stealing support to bona fide leading lady.

Hard-working student Olive (Stone) tells a tiny white lie to best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) about losing her virginity to a mystery man and Bible-bashing classmate Marianne (Amanda Bynes) overhears the confession.

Initially distressed to be the talking point of the entire school, Olive embraces her new reputation for the good of others.

She manufactures a hook-up with classmate Brandon (Dan Byrd) to dispel whispers about him being gay, claims to have bedded an overweight boy who fears he will never get a girlfriend, and confesses to giving Marianne's dim-witted boyfriend Micah (Cam Gigandet) a sexually transmitted disease in order to protect the real culprit.

Events quickly spiral out of control and as friends turn against her, Olive finds a solitary ally in her old school crush, Woodchuck Todd (Penn Badgley).

Easy A is a delight, anchored by Stone's effervescent performance that has us giggling to the point of crying then choking back tears by the time the end credits roll.

At a brisk 92 minutes, Gluck's film certainly scores top marks for brevity. If anything, we would happily stay in detention with these characters for at least another 20 minutes.