An Education

An Education

Smart and headstrong London teenager Jenny (Mulligan) is bored to tears and exhausted with her regimented schooling. Her dad is pushing her towards Oxford while she hardly sees the point of it all anymore. She would much rather enjoy life then spend days on end with her head buried in Latin books. When a handsome stranger (Sarsgaard) befriends her one rainy day her eyes are opened to a much broader world then her London upbringing has ever shown her. She is fearful yet seduced by this lavish world of grown ups and travel. Should she throw away everything she has worked towards for this new life or stick with the safe route of academia?

• I really loved the bright and plucky character Jenny. She was as bright as she was fearless and never afraid to say what was on her mind. To anyone. She was so smart and overall the classic good girl but always questioning. Always pushing for more.
• One of my favorite lines of Jenny's is when she said "It's not enough to educate us anymore. You've got to tell us why." This is a perfect reflection of the kind of girl she was and the kind of women she was becoming. She wasn't willing to settle for following the masses just because it's what women did.
• The relationship between Jenny and David (Sarsgaard) was just a little bit disturbing to me and it struck me as odd at first that no one protested the age difference before I took into account the era. There were no statutory rape laws in 1961 obviously but it was sort of predator like to me the way that he came onto a 16 year old and the eventual relationship that followed. The age difference was almost a non issue with the adults in her life who just wanted to make sure she was "safe" and stuck to her education.
• Even though it took place in 1961 the message about women's roles and society are still pertinent today.
• Great film. Great acting. Carey Mulligan knocked it out of the park and it's looking like the start of a very successful acting career.

5 Stars

Just Me

An Education

Usually films that court controversy fail to live up to the hype, but An Education delivers everything it promises, and more. It's little wonder that Oscar sat up and took notice.

If you're worried that a movie featuring a grown man (Peter Sarsgaard) seducing a 16-year old girl (24-year old Carey Mulligan) will make you squirm in your seat, then stop fretting. Not only is An Education tasteful and intelligent until the end, but it also refuses to cash in on its scandalous subject matter.

Instead it tackles it head-on, but with a subtlety and sensitivity that betrays its arthouse origins with Dogme95 director Lone Scherfig. This is a movie that examines one girl's hopes and aspirations through the prism of her affair with an older man - and let's face it, teenage girls have always been attracted to the older and manlier end of the spectrum, rather than their awkward, fumbling peers.

Sarsgaard is slick enough to make you question his intentions from the outset, but there's nothing sordid or sleazy about Mulligan's naive attempts to make sense of her burgeoning adulthood. The affair may form the core of An Education's marketing campaign, but this film is more concerned with its characters' inner motivations than their undergarments.

If it's still difficult to believe that any teenage girl's father (played with bumbling congeniality here by Alfred Molina) would allow his daughter to spend the night with a man who's twice her age, then at least it doesn't detract from the film's impact. The chemistry between Sarsgaard and Mulligan is immediate and genuine, and while it's sometimes difficult to marry her intelligence with her obvious innocence, that's one fault that seems to have its roots in reality.

As for the plot, it only fumbles slightly in the closing minutes, as the script fast-forwards clumsily in an attempt to manufacture some kind of resolution to this thoroughly unconventional story. If it feels stuck-on and false, that's only because the rest of the film is so firmly rooted in believability.

The 1960s setting is nicely rendered too, from the shocking wallpaper to Britain's fascination with all things French, and the cast provides a rollcall of the best of British talent, from Emma Thompson to Dominic Cooper and Sally Hawkins. If nothing else, in Carey Mulligan it has a truly talented emerging star who we'll undoubtedly see a lot more of in years to come.

An Education still fumbles to find a fully satisfying conclusion, but when the rest of a movie is this entertaining and eye-opening it seems churlish to complain about its few weak minutes. Let's just hope that it doesn't give too many single businessmen the wrong idea.

4/5

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FILM REVIEW : An Education (2009)

          Proof that films don't need to be lengthy to be good, Lone Scherfig's An Education is one of 2009's best films


I got the chance to see An Education at a "local" (roughly 40 minutes away) theater that plays limited release films. Being the first film that I viewed there, I can say that my experiences at that theater started on a good note, as An Education is one of the year's best films.

The story is simple: set in the middle of the twentieth century, British schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is smart, pretty, and popular. However, there's just one problem: she wants more. She wants to eat at fancy restaurants and listen to jazz and do things her way. Her parents (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) don't really seem to care. In fact, the only thing they do care about is their daughter getting in to Oxford University. Jenny gets exactly what she wished for - and perhaps more - when she falls head over heels for David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charming older man. She starts spending time with him and his friends, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike), finally doing the things she longed to do. But is it all too good to be true?

Screenwriter Nick Hornby was able to do the unimaginable by adapting a memoir with such sketchy subject matter into an overall delightful and at times quite funny screenplay. It can be appreciated that much of the humor comes from the character flaws. Interestingly enough, none of that humor stems from the biggest and most noticeable flaw: David's behavior. Instead, Hornby shines a light on the flaws of Jenny and her parents. David is disturbing and certainly flawed, but the view presented here shows that Jenny is just as flawed as him.

But there's a bit of speed bump in the situation: Hornby's screenplay would not have been served justice with the wrong director. The comedy could have come off as uncomfortably awkward and humorless, the drama could have seemed forced, and the subject matter may have had too much prominence. So how did director Lone Scherfig handle this screenplay? The execution of the comedy was absolutely perfect, although the comedy itself was a bit awkward at times. The drama did not at all feel forced or there for show; rather, it felt genuine. The subject matter was dealt with in a very tasteful manner, as it did not have too much interference with the plot.
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       Carey Mulligan will certainly enchant enough Oscar voters to get a Best Actress nomination... perhaps even a win!
With such charm and wit that makes you blink twice before realizing she isn't Audrey Hepburn (or another Hollywood era heart breaker), Carey Mulligan puts in a fantastic performance that completely deserves its Oscar buzz.  Being able to look like the sixteen year old Jenny when you're close to thirty is a pretty remarkable achievement. But looks aside, the girl has acting chops to spare. The transition she makes from naive to knowledgeable is seamless; her emotional scenes near the resolution make you feel for her. Truly a great work here. I hope to see more of her in the future.
 
                               Why the sad face, Peter Sarsgaard? You might get an Oscar nomination this year!
 

Peter Sarsgaard also does some pretty good work as the seriously flawed Danny. Sure, he masters the British accent, but his real accomplishment is being able to exude some sense of charm and likability despite being such a conventionally unlikable character. Beyond that, he isn't given much to work with. Still, I wouldn't count him out of a Supporting Actor nomination.
 
 
                           Their characters are as common as ever, but Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour are great.
 
It basically comes down to this: Molina and Seymour aren't playing great parents, but they do a great job at playing the horrible ones in An Education. For anyone out there predicting the Oscars, you can pencil in Alfred Molina as a Supporting Actor nominee and potential frontrunner. Long overdue for attention, An Education is the right kind of film for him to finally get noticed. He's the comic relief for much of the film. However, that's pretty much it. There's nothing to his role other than spewing out some one liners and being oblivious to reality. Cara Seymour as Jenny's mother is given even less to work with. Granted, this is Jenny's story and not theirs. Not necessarily the bumbling idiot parents that you'll see in every other kid movie nowadays, but a little more characterization wouldn't have hurt.
 

          Dominic Cooper does great with a complex character; Rosamund Pike does great with a... less than complex character
 

Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike play Danny and Helen, the couple that frequently associate with David. As for Dominic Cooper, I'm surprised he hasn't been getting more buzz. He's not as overdue as Molina or even Sarsgaard, but Cooper - who is relatively new on the scene - probably has the most difficult of the male roles. When he first hops on the scene, there's not much there really. He's pretty one-dimensional actually, but he gets the chance to shine when certain things begin to take place. Not that he was bad in The Duchess or Mamma Mia!, but this is his best work to date. As for Pike, I'm surprised she actually had buzz. She's not bad at all. She definitely works, and I'll go as far as saying that she's terrific. Still, there is absolutely nothing to her character. Even her great performance couldn't instill any life into Helen.
 

                    You almost missed Emma Thompson! Sally Hawkins left as soon as I began my review

And to cap off the performances in the film we have Emma Thompson as the principal at Jenny's school. Blink once and you'll miss her. She isn't given anything to work with at all, which makes me wonder why they would cast someone so high profile in a role like this. Golden Globe-winning and almost Oscar-nominated Sally Hawkins has even less time on the silver screen. She appears and vanishes so quickly that you'd think she was used as some sort of odd subliminal message.

All in all, a great film with some flawed characters and mild, nearly unnoticeable flaws in the characterization. Go get An Education while/if you still can.

Highly recommended

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Oscar Potential:

Best shots: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Carey Mulligan), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Alfred Molina)

Possible: Best Director (Lone Scherfig), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Peter Sarsgaard), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Original Song ("A Sunday Kind of Love"), Best Original Song ("You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger")

In minor contention for: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Dominic Cooper), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Rosamund Pike)

Photo Courtesies:
An Education: Brandon Fibbs
Carey Mulligan: City Beat
Peter Sarsgaard: Film Review Online
Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour: AceShowbiz
Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike: Mail Online
Emma Thompson: Noh Way

Julian Stark (pen name)<br />
<br />
Founder/Editor: Movies and Other Things<br />
<br />
http://julianstark-moviesandotherthings.blogspot.com

Last updated: 2010-04-10 00:27:20 by user07

Education Versus Seduction

“To be able to be caught up into the world of thought — that is educated.”- Edith Hamilton

Set in 1961 England, where women concentrated on finding a husband before heading to university, An Education touches – brilliantly – on one girl’s struggle between the path to higher education and the life she believes she will find by following her heart.

Adapted from the memoirs of Lynn Barber, this film is a “coming of age” story about a young girl, played by Carey Mulligan, who becomes seduced by a much older man.

Jenny, an intelligent and witty girl with a penchant for French music and studying Latin, is trying to secure a spot at Oxford. Though studying at this prestigious university seems to have been her lifelong dream, it is apparent she is wishes to break free of her mould.

Engaging and incredibly charming, David (Peter Sarsgaard) enters Jenny’s life and immediately seduces her. Though he is 35 – clearly much too old – he shares her love for music, and captivates her instantly.

As the movie unfolds, David successfully pulls Jenny into a world where he seems to be a man about town, someone who has truly experienced life. With his wiles David is also able to manipulate Jenny’s parents, persuading them to allow her on various weekend trips with him.

While Jenny yearns to see and experience all that university has to offer, she is also dying to live life, or at least the life she imagines she could lead if she were free from the confines of parental supervision.

As David works his way further into her life, and into her young heart, Jenny begins to shed her dreams and her aspirations, begins to allow his life and loves to become her own. She sees in him what he wants her to see, as if he is playing the role he knows she desperately wants him to. Jenny has longed for adventure, and her affair with David only clouds her judgment, until she cannot see why she ever wanted to continue her education in the first place.

Throughout the entire film, writer Nick Hornby weaves the viewer into a tale where education is at the forefront. Though at times the story is predictable and flat, he craftily shows how women are often faced with the decision of choosing their educational path, be it university or learning in the “school of life” as David claims he has done.

Education, in all its various forms, creates the framework for a story that is both heartbreaking and funny. Jenny is faced with things most teenaged girls dealt with in the sixties, heartache being the biggest. Which will make her heart ache more? Education discarded? Or seduction resisted?

Though the film isn’t one that will stand the test of time, or even prompt a re-watch, it is certainly worth watching once. It will at least make you consider the most important components of your education.

This movie gets 3/5 Light Bulbs.

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Recommendations: Wizard of Oz

Booze Revooze: A Drinker's Skewed View of AN EDUCATION

Ramblings:  Education Fail

Final Proof: 2 Shots

You know how you drink with jail bait? They drink virgin cocktails that don’t stay that way for long and have these great learning curves because their innocence goes like a shot and they learn how to use their lucky charms to get exactly what they want. You pay for their rounds and they drink you down, down into blue ruin and they ruin themselves as much as they do you. Sure they wake up with the same hangover but because they’re young and beautiful nothing really and truly bad ever happens to them. They use you like a pencil on someone else’s tab and then they get famous for telling their stories and leave you wasted away. An Education is kind of like that.

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: 3 Shots

It’s a tricky subject because the movie is based on a young girl (played by 24-year-old Cary Mulligan) who loses her virginity to a much older man at the then legal age of 17. You’re supposed to watch this movie and not be creeped out but instead impressed by a touching coming of age tale. i’ll ask for the same indulgence as you read this section; just keep thinking “touching tale, touching tale, touching tale” over and over again.

There are lots of high school girls in uniforms during the opening credits.

There’s also Carey Mulligan (24) who was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Jenny. Here’s a cute bit for you:
Jenny's Friend (holding a banana):  I thought we might get the messy bit over first.
Jenny:  I don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit!

Here's some other cute bits.
Miss Demeanor nudged me during the movie and whispered that Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams–41) was secretly hot even though there was no way to know it behind the sadistic librarian look.

Here’s what she looked like in the movie and in a promotional shot:
Here’s more proof that Miss D was right and that Olivia was hot in disguise.
Appearing as Helen is Rosamund Pike (31). Y’all might also remember her from my exposé of her in Surrogates.
For the Silken Butterflies in An Education, let’s start off with British jazz singer Beth Rowley, who plays Nightclub Singer. Before i give serve you the shots, here’s a song from the juiced-box and the soundtrack: Beth Rowley – You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger
There was also the cute Ellie Kendrick (20) as Tina:
For those of you who prefer carrots to the whip, i got Peter  Sarsgaard (who i already exposéed in Orphan):
Drink: 2½ Shots

• Drinking with the [first] boyfriend; he tells her “You drink anything put in front of you and then you drink it down and ask for more.”
• A pint of beer at birthday dinner
• Whiskey for David
• Wine at the [unintelligible]
• Champagne at the dog track
• Bloody Marys for [illegible]

Rock & Roll: 0 Shots

Some nice jazz but nothing rock, even if this is set in the early sixties. We’re talking Mel Tormé, babes. Still, there was Duffy doing “Smoke Without Fire”.

Boring Technical Crap

Written by:

Lynn Barber (memoirs)

Nick Hornby (screenplay)

Directed by: Lone Scherfig

Starring

Carey Mulligan – Jenny

Olivia Williams – Miss Stubbs

Rosamund Pike – Helen

Beth Rowley – Nightclub Singer

Ellie Kendrick – Tina

Peter Sarsgaard – David

Bottom Line

Learn from my mistakes: don’t see it.

Al K Hall<br />
Functional Alcoholic Slurperson<br />
(No, REALLY. Google &amp;quot;Slurperson&amp;quot; if you don't believe me.)

Last updated: 2010-03-31 16:50:13 by user08

An Education

     I wasn't in the mood to see Disney re-bastardize two classic pieces of literature and I had seen everything else playing locally that was worth seeing,  so it was time to drive a little and catch up on some limited release  films.
 
     "An Education" is based  on the memoir of Lynn Barber, a British journalist who, when she was sixteen in the  early 1960s, was seduced by an older man.  I want to tread lightly here  because it is very easy to give away too much and ruin this movie, but  there are a few things that an American audience should know before  seeing "An Education."   'A-levels'  are sort of like British college entrance exams, 'sixth form' is a student, usually  sixteen to eighteen years old, who is taking their last two, optional,  years of school in order to study for their A-levels,  and Peter  Rachman, the man at the dog track, is infamous for buying slums and  moving in immigrants from the West Indies, who could live no where  else, and extorting excessive rent from them.  Forgive me if that was  over simplified, but it should get someone who didn't know through the  movie.  (It would have helped me!)
 
     Still trying to  tread lightly, Carey  Mulligan is brilliant and convincing, as Jenny, an intelligent,  charming, and beautiful sixteen year old girl who's just a bit too  mature for her age.  She is seduced by David, played almost too well, by  Peter Sarsgaard, a  seemingly, wealthy, worldly, and very charming, older man.  He is also  more than he appears to be and, in the end, so much less.  Before  meeting David, everyone in Jenny's life knows her intelligence and  potential, so they drive her toward the best formal education she can  get, but once a man comes into her life, someone who can give her  everything she would ever want, her teachers try to keep Jenny on course  and her father, played notably by Alfred Molina, tries to  steer her away from expensive Oxford and toward a life more exciting and charmed than his working class  existence, and Jenny, ultimately, gets a far greater education than she  had ever wanted.
 
     "An Education" is a well  acted, well directed, and is a truly charming coming of age story as  well as a true story.  It was well worth the wait and deserves every one  of the awards it won, and maybe some of the ones it didn't. 
 

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Brian
Ciné Critique Américain

AN EDUCATION

***
An intensely charming lead and a lovely sense of the period (moments before the sixties truly swung up London) elevate this above other superficial coming-of-age stories. A rushed, embarrassingly trite conclusion (with a voiceover introduced to deliver the homily) brings it back down.

An Education

I give the movie: 4.0/5

Just like the critically-acclaimed The Hurt Locker, this film was released in 2009 when Oscar buzz didn't really start yet, and An Education just faded off in the memories of mainstream audiences. But one gleaming diamond in the rough did remain - and it was the exceptional performance by lead actress Carey Mulligan.

SYNOPSIS:

Set in England, Mulligan stars as Jenny, a 16-year-old student who aspires to be admitted to Oxford. But her strict and no-nonsense upbringing was turned upside down when she meets an older man (a suave Peter Sarsgaard) as he cajoles her into joining him in wild trips to Paris, and leading her into a world where she'd learn things not necessarily taught in the confines of a college.

PRAISES:

Besides a brilliant supporting cast which includes Emma Thompson, Dominic Cooper and Alfred Molina, the natural dialogue from a strong screenplay by author Nick Hornby (of About a Boy) allows us to view the world widening before Jenny's eyes.

FINAL SAY: 

Although Oscars usually favour the hot-favourites in major categories, I'm hoping they break the convention this year and award the Best Actress to Carey Mulligan, instead of a mainstream win by Sandra Bullock (I still heart you, Bullock). Justice would be done, like how Halle Berry was celebrated for Monster's Ball, and Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose.

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Wilson Ng - http://wilsoniscurious.blogspot.com/

Last updated: 2010-03-13 23:33:30 by wilsoniscurious

Movies 365: Day 34 – An Education

An Education, 2009 Directed by Lone Scherfig

Set in England in the early 1960s, An Education is the coming of age story of Jenny (Carey Mulligan) a smart girl, bored with her predictable suburban life, who begins a relationship with David (Peter Sarsgaard) an older Jewish man. David represents everything that her life isn’t, fun, excitement and adventure, instead of the life her parents have laid out before her. As she and David get closer, Jenny, with the wisdom that all of us had at the age of sixteen believes that anything she knows better than her parents, and that anything could be better than the boring life she’s sure to lead should she follow their wishes.

Carey Mulligan is absolutely amazing as Jenny, able to convey the innocence and arrogance of youth, but with a wisdom that belies her age. Mulligan is gorgeous and enchanting, she’s been nominated for Best Actress, and if she doesn’t win, I’ll be shocked. This is a star making performance and film, and Mulligan deserves all the accolades she’s been getting. Sarsgaard is also quite good as the charming David, and it’s pretty easy to understand why Jenny falls for him. The supporting cast is good all around as well, particularly Alfred Molina as Jenny’s father, Olivia Williams as Miss Stubbs, and Emma Thompson in a brief but brilliant turn as Miss Walters. An Education is a very good movie, but even if it weren’t it would still be worth seeing, if only for Carey Mulligan’s performance.

an education

okay, academy, you can nominate this film for best picture.  it’s pretty damn good.  being the dirty old man that i am, i must admit i kinda enjoyed watching young jenny get wooed by older man dave.

once again, this is not the kind of film i generally go out of my way to see.  but i have been making an effort to try and see all the films nominated for best picture this year just so i can throw in my own two cents.  and we usually don’t get pictures like this at my theater.  i work for a cinemark tinseltown out on the east end of louisville.  and we sometimes just don’t get some of these movies.  we get the big budget, cookie cutter films the masses enjoy.  well, the masses are stupid for the most part.  and once the oscar nominations come out we sometimes get some of these movies that have been out for a while but still in theaters.  like crazy heart and an education.

and they are both marvelous films.

this is a tale of a young school girl swept up in a whirlwind romance with an older man.  all her life she’s known nothing but studying to get good grades so she can be accepted into oxford.  her life is dull, gray and lifeless.  until she meets dave.  and exciting older man with a sports car and the means to take her to paris and buy her stylish clothes and show her a life like she’s always dreamed of and never dared to wish for.

it is well acted from top to bottom.  i believed every character in the film.  i never realized what a tremendous actor alfred molina is.  he’s fantastic as the father.  peter sarsgaard is very charming and believable in his role of older man swooning young jenny,  rosamund pike is delightful as the dim but beautiful helen, dominic cooper is great as dave’s pal and business partner and matthew beard comes across just as awkward as any would be high school suitor can be.  and don’t let me leave out carey mulligan who literally grows from school girl to woman before our very eyes.

it is very british and it’s fun to hear them talk and use their very british phrases and drink their tea from 1960’s era england.  it’s all very charming.  i mean, i’m not gonna run out and buy it on dvd.  if i find it used for 5 bucks or something i might pick it up because it would be cool to have on my shelf.  but the vast majority of movie goers will probably find it boring and dull.  however, it is an excellent flick and if you are a true movie fan, meaning a fan of good films, then go see it if you are lucky enough to have it playing near you.  you will learn something.

in fact, the last two films i’ve seen, crazy heart and an education, share a similar theme.  redemption is yours if only you want it.  whether you be an old, washed up, alcoholic country singer or a young, passionate school girl, mistakes are made.  but they are not the end of you.  we all have the power to overcome our mistakes and make our lives better.  we all have within our grasp the ability to make ours the lives we’ve always wanted.

go see these films.

i give an education four and a half school girl plaid skirts out of five.

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Cal Reed

An Education

i feel like i need some long prelude here, to talk about women's rights. or the oppression of the vagina that has been well documented through the ages. but i think at this point, everyone is aware of it. i think we all know that women were for a very long time, and still, in crappy places of the world, treated like second rate citizens. if this information comes as news to you, well, just stop reading. right here. i don't want your eyes touching my words; i don't want to catch idiot.

if you're still reading, then hopefully you deduced what an education is about. the problem is, it doesn't present new information regarding female oppression. imagine listening to a song you've heard a thousand times. now, imagine listening to it off key. at first you think "this is new"; soon after you think "what am i doing here, listening to this."

i find it interesting that many critics rave over this film. i'm starting to wonder: if you want to gain the love of a critic, can you do something specific? aside from bribing them, of course. i think you can. just follow the formula:

anti-jewish sentiment + oppressed females + art for the sake of art = win

while there are a few interesting moments in an education, mostly it's just telling a story that i've already heard. 3/7. watch mona lisa smile instead.

http://suckfail.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/an-education/

Last updated: 2010-02-28 07:56:48 by suckfail

An Education

"An Education" was directed by Lone Scherfig. It stars Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, and Emma Thompson. "An Education" is one of the 10 Best Picture Nominees at the 82nd Academy Awards. The movie also got nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Carey Mulligan got a Best Actress nomination.

The movie takes place in England in 1961. Jenny Miller (Carey Mulligan) is 16 years old and plans on attending college at Oxford University. One day David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard), a man roughly twice her age, comes along and everything changes. They begin a romantic relationship and he shows her such luxuries as concerts and going to Paris. Throughout this period in her life, Jenny learns a ridiculous amount of things...some of them more enjoyable than others. The title has at least two meanings that I can think of...

Carey Mulligan earned her Oscar nomination. She won't win because I'm assuming Sandra Bullock will win...even though she claims she won't..oh, Sandra Bullock.... But at least Carey Mulligan can say that she earned it. I had not heard of her before this movie came out, which makes sense because she has only been in a couple movies and this is her first starring role. She makes the character of Jenny believable as she matures and just learns from the experiences she is thrust into. She shows several emotions and gives her character depth, playing it all very convincingly. She even has some chemistry with Peter Sarsgaard...although every so often their relationship comes off as kind of strange and gross...which is actually a pretty legitimate comment. He is also great in his role...just not great enough to warrent a Oscar nomination. Alfred Molina as Jenny's father was a nice change from his role in "Spiderman 2"...the only other movie I have to judge him in...great actor. And although Emma Thompson was only in three small scenes, she was fantastic in this movie as the headmistress at Jenny's school. She worked so well with Carey Mulligan in those scenes as she talks to Jenny about college and her future and the affect that David could have on it.

The movie looks beautiful. The sets and everything were successful in conveying the 1960s time period. There are some great shots of various parts of England and France. The cinematography, which included various parts of certain scenes out of focus, aerial views of buildings, and general impressive composition and lighting, makes the movie extremely visually appealing.

The story is compelling throughout the duration of the film. The dialogue between the cast is well written and feels natural.

So as of now I have seen all 10 of the Best Picture nominees. And "An Education" is not going win Best Picture...because if the Academy has any idea what they are doing either "Precious" or "Up in the Air" is going to win. Or they could be ridiculous and give the award to "Avatar" which would be horrible because it's not Best Picture quality. At that point the Academy can no longer be trusted. I guess I should get back to "An Education" and stop ranting. The movie visually looked great and the actors all gave great performances. The script and whatever the heck else going into making a great, well made movie is present here. I would recommend it, but it might not be the kind of movie for some people. It doesn't really have mass appeal and is pretty artistic...4 out of 4 stars...

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An Education: Not your father's Lolita

She's 16. He's 36 — give or take.

She's in high school. He's a man of a glam and shady world.

Sound familiar?

Fuggedaboudit!

This girl-meets-older-guy flick defies the stereotype. Set in London, circa 1962, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is no victim of David's (Peter's Sarsgaard) advances.

It may not be PC, but there's truth on the screen and super actors.

See you at the movies, The Movie Slut

An Education

Hands down the best movie of the year so far.

A paragon of lean, efficient storytelling with a huge heart and plenty of hard-earned wisdom at its center, "An Education" follows the relationship of 16 year-old British schoolgirl Jenny with sly charmer David, a man twenty years older played by the always-fantastic Peter Saarsgard.

You would think the age difference would be obstacle enough to create a meaty drama, but David's hiding a secret. There is more to him than first appears, and not in a good way.

Jenny's parents are deeply invested in Jenny's studies. They have serious plans for her to attend Oxford and make an accomplished life for herself. She is on pace to achieve this when David enters her life. One of the many delightful surprises of "An Education" is how Jenny's parents do not respond with cliched fear and disgust at David's presence in Jenny's life.

Rather, they are as charmed by him as Jenny is. When he eventually proposes marriage, they think it's a wonderful development. Even if it means Jenny must forsake Oxford.

Half the beauty of this is that the decision -- David or Oxford -- is thrown back on Jenny. With her parents taken in by David, Jenny is morally on her own. Which is exactly where every main character should be. (There's a reason Obi-Wan Kenobi got killed by Darth Vader at the 2/3rds mark of Star Wars.)

I haven't spoiled the surprises of the movie, but I'm about to. Stop reading if you haven't seen it.

Relatively early on, David -- who is totally in love with our Jenny -- reveals his secret to her. He is a con man by trade. He specializes in defrauding the elderly of precious artworks whose value they do not suspect. It's not a pretty line of work and David isn't proud of it, but he does defend it with a stirring speech containing a Darwinian logic and culminating with the brilliant line:

"We're not all clever like you. So we have to be clever in other ways."


The twist is that this is not the twist.

We think we know what the score is. David's a con man but he sincerely loves Jenny, and she loves him back, warts and all. As long as they can keep David's secret from Jenny's besotted parents, they will be fine.

And then we find out David's already married.

Gotcha.

So many stories would have worked the reveals the other way around. First we might find out he's married, but he's on the verge of divorce or whatever, and then, later in the movie, we find out he's a con man and all his promises are lies. That would be fine. It would be conventional. It would make sense.

But it works much better the way "An Education" does it.

Here, David's criminal activity is revealed as a minor transgression next to the wanton heart-breaking he continually inflicts on innocent girls with his complete inability to restrain himself from falling in love with someone new every six months. This is a personal crime, and as an audience it touches us far more deeply than anything involving mere property.

In "An Education," the reveals are properly structured because the film-makers have a subtle eye for what really matters in life; for what is really permissable, and what is not.

I haven't even mentioned the magnificent character of Miss Stubbs, Jenny's teacher and the only person in the movie who cares for Jenny exclusively for Jenny's own sake.


Miss Stubbs is played by Olivia Williams, who has a nose for getting herself in classics, having appeared also in "Rushmore" and "The Sixth Sense."

Here's a personal confession: late in the movie, Jenny asks Miss Stubbs perhaps the most poignant, vulnerable question one human can ask another: "Will you help me?"

Miss Stubbs' response had this reviewer watery-eyed and sniffling. And this reviewer does not sniffle easily!

(Okay, maybe he does.)

The underlying story comes from the memoir of sharp-tongued British interviewer Lynn Barber (aka Jenny), but the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby, the British novelist whose book "About a Boy" was adapted by Peter Hedges in 2002, resulting in the best Hollywood comedy of the decade. This movie is another feather in the cap for everyone involved.

Some movies justify the entire year in which they debut. "An Education" did that for me.

SCORE:

How Accomplished: 93/100

How Much I Enjoyed: 94/100

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An Education

An Education! A British comedy film about..... education! Hahahaha okay lameness again. So as we may already know, this little film is one of the 10 contenders for the 82nd Academy Awards. So is this film worthy to be up in the ranks of the likes of Avatar, Precious, Up, District 9 and Up In The Air? Oh yeah!



An Education is a coming of age film about Jenny, played by Carey Mulligan, who's a 17 year old who's life has only revolved around studying and getting into Oxford. Her parents pressure her to death to get good grades. Her friends are boring geeky losers. And her only choice for a boyfriend is a total wimp. By a chance of fate she meets David, a 30 year old luxury thief who gives her a taste of the fantastic glam life. The two fall head over heels with each other and we see Jenny beginning to break free from the boring life she had before.



Education was directed by Lone Scherfig who previously did Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself which was hella hella funny. The script for the film is really nicely done. The dialog between characters where fine and their retorts are incredibly British-y smart.



I always get this syndrome after watching British films. I just love how the speak hahaha. It just sounds so smart. After watching a Brit film I find myself trying to copy their accent. Hahahaha, don't judge meee!!



Oh and I absolutely adore the British costumes of the precocious 1960's fashion. The glam segments had some of the coolest looking suits and dresses. And I really like Peter Sarsgard's car. I want that car muahahaha.



Carey Mulligan is amazingly wonderful playing an adolescent girl who wants to be treated like an adult but at the same time has the fear of being eaten up by the real world. A role I think we kids know too well. She came a long way from Pride & Prejudice where she was so annoying. She's an absolute fine lady in this film, totally deserving of her Oscar nomination. And I love her laugh. It's the cutest giggle I've ever heard!



Rosamund Pike is an absolute goddess in this. She plays some sort of mentor to Carey Mulligan's character. Her character reminds me of Audrey Tautou in Priceless. Her character is the woman every girl wishes they can grow up to be. The glamorous classy socialite who lives a life of riches through the many men she has manipulated. But even with all that glam there's still this lingering fear inside of her at how volatile her lifestyle is. At any moment she could go from rich to a washed up has-been once her man gets bored of her.



But my absolute fav was Alfred Molina as Jenny's father. You guys might know him has the octo guy from Spider-man 2 hahaha. My favoritism scene in Education is when his character finds out his daughter has been lying to him about what she's been doing. He balanced anger, disappointment and worry into a very simple subtle monologue of how he still loves his daughter regardless of all the terrible things she's done behind his back.



What I wished they would have changed about the film was not be so preachy about how important it is for kids to study till they get 100A's. The ending felt kinda propaganda-ish. Like, see if you have fun, you're life is going to be ruined forever so STUDY! But other than that I was really satisfied with An Education.

RATING: 7/10

NicholasC

Super Marcey's An Education Review

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Recommendations: Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009), Milk, Hurt Locker, The (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)

Last updated: 2010-02-19 15:35:36 by SuperMarcey

An Education

You know you’ve learnt something when you’re changed by what you’ve learnt. If you’re still you, plus a memorized inventory: no dice. That’s why most of most what we learn in school is only exam fodder. There’s a big difference between knowledge that helps you get on in life and knowledge that helps you live. The new British movie, An Education, is about a valuable lesson taught to a 16-year-old by her first whopping great mistake. She is Oxford-bound, a straight-A student, so she could easily have stuck to her books and missed her opportunity. Thankfully, she studies her mistake – appreciates it – and allows experience to enhance her mind.

England, in the early 60s, was still a Jane Austen world for girls. You either aspired to one of the spinster professions (teaching, secretary) or you aspired to marriage. A girl like Jenny (the movie’s heroine) might, ostensibly, be studying to get into Oxford, but in reality – i.e. in her parent’s view – she’s studying to make it easier to find an educated husband. Jenny’s parents are hardly tyrants, but they feel they know what’s best for their daughter. Then one day she brings home a seemingly nice, seemingly educated older man, and says she loves him. Today, we’d call him all sorts of names. In England, in the early 60s, he’s seemingly a good prospect.

Carey Mulligan plays Jenny as the sort of girl who Audrey Hepburn would have essayed. She has wry eyebrows and an impish smile. She’s capable of looking sweet and looking serious without either look jarring. And she can make you believe an older man isn’t a pervert just by looking back at him – sweetly serious, the way Audrey used to – as if to say, “I’ll be good enough for us both”. Scenes that could potentially be very awkward to watch – Jenny dating a 34-year-old! – are always (as intended) romantic because Mulligan doesn’t act foolish. She isn’t playing a girl who gets seduced. She’s playing a girl who falls in love. In another movie – an Audrey Hepburn movie – there’d be no problem with her choice. Carey Mulligan’s triumph is to portray Audrey Hepburn struggling with reality.

Peter Sarsgaard plays Jenny’s seducer like a man falling in love. He’s equally the reason why the movie works because he isn’t all the ugly things he could have been. You don’t feel that he’s controlling Jenny or that he’s leering at her. You don’t feel that her intelligence is a threat to him, or that he’s indifferent to her needs. He’s simply a man doing the wrong thing because he’s in love with a 16-year-old. Sarsgaard, who has a knack for morally lapsed characters, is comfortable in his role because he doesn’t play Jenny’s boyfriend as a liar. He tells her the truth about his feelings. The rest seems irrelevant. But for niggling reality, he’d be her ideal husband.

There’s a lot of comedy in An Education, as there should be in any movie about youth. Emma Thompson probably gets the most laughs as Jenny’s anti-Semitic (though not entirely stupid) headmistress, who responds to news that Jenny’s boyfriend is Jewish with the heartfelt plea: “You are aware, I take it, that the Jews killed our Lord.” Thompson, dressed like Margaret Thatcher, brings such a sense of British-ness to her performance that you wonder she doesn’t wrap herself in a Union Jack. Her meetings with Jenny form a kind of dialogue between pre and post-60s Britain, but Thompson ensures we don’t see the Age of Austerity as merely dim.

Learning that you’re a fool is life’s best lesson. We’re insufferable without humility. Success might breed success, but it’s murder on the ego. What Jenny learns from choosing the wrong man is exactly what will help her (with hindsight) choose the right one. An Education lets you know from the title that this isn’t a tragedy. It’s a coming-of-age story; a “how I came to be…” Usually, these stories are so brittle with cliché that they’re choked from telling you anything sincere. But An Education resists cliché and caricature the way its heroine resists conformity. It tells you – right from the moment Carey Mulligan flares on screen – that the lesson will not be rote.

Movie review: An Education

AN EDUCATION is a good movie that comes off as better than what it is because of its talented cast and the sharp, intelligent dialogue.

Carrey Mulligan is just superb in the role of the wide-eye yet smart beyond her years, 16yr old girl who falls for the silver tongue and snake eyes of an older man, played by Peter Sarsgaard, who has played this sort of suspicious characters so much that at this point, he could do it in his sleep. Rosamund Pike (whom I\\\'ve never really thought great of really) and Dominic Cooper, are joyful, slightly deceiving, glamorous, and sad enough to form the kind of friends that would lure a teenage girl away from school.  Alfred Molina is great as the dad, and now I feel bad he wasn\\\'t nominated for an actor in a supporting role oscar.  Olivia Williams, and the always amazing Emma Thompson, are just excellent and it makes me wish they acted more instead of just sporadically in minor roles here and there.
But this smart coming of age tale belongs to Carrey as Jenny Miller. The way she handles the role, showing us that teenagers can be smart enough to be treated as adults, but that at the end of the day, a teenager it\\\'s still a teenager and they can easily fall into traps set by those with more life-experience.
It\\\'s a great piece, but as a whole, as a movie and not an actors showcase, it falls short of perfect.  Grade: A-

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Last updated: 2010-02-16 21:04:44 by Nate13

"An Education" teaches what a quality film is.

/</igspan style="font-size: 2px;"/>/igFrom the first line spoken An Education was sold to me by Carey Mulligan's charm and perky personality. The acting in the film was excellent and the chemistry between the characters was flawless. It felt like I was watching a film where old friends meet up with a prior history and are happy to see each other and strike up an interesting conversation that is very intriguing. The dialogue between the characters was just that. In addition, the story was very original and always felt new. There were no scenes that dragged along and had me looking at the time. The screenplay was witty, wise and observant. Very seldom do I come across a film of this type where I can connect with the characters. Here, however, I felt like anything that happens to the stars in the film could happen to me at any given moment. Mulligan is deserving of Best Actress without a doubt and I would consider this film to be one of the best in 2009. 3 and a half out of 4 stars.</span>

Last updated: 2010-02-10 09:56:17 by mikeymike3d93

An Education (review published December 2009)

When you see this film (and you should) don't expect it to impress you on a superficial level. It won't satisfy the senses, the story-line won't necessarily leave you in awe, and the characters don't seem to go through the motions of intense dramatic moments that you would maybe expect to propel a character-driven piece (for example, I would say Rachel Getting Married undoubtedly had moments with intense drama). This is an internal story of a girl who wants to discover the world and when given the opportunity, lunges at it. Now, when put bluntly like that, you can probably guess that consequences resulting from her naivety will result. But this is life and it happens to us all.
 
Carey Mulligan will win a Golden Globe and (God bless her) ultimately go head-to-head against Meryl Streep for the Lead Actress Oscar. Her performance as Jenny doesn't make this character memorable for being a rarity, but rather she embodies all of us during our teenage years in the sense that her character is ready to commence adulthood and will do anything to get the process going. She is warm and charming, giddy and anxious, but yet she exerts as much caution as she knows how. What is most memorable is her laugh. You'll be happy and excited for her when she's happy and excited and you'll feel deeply for her when her world comes crashing down.
 
Gradually, Jenny begins to compromise herself and even though you know disaster lurks around the corner, it all seems rather acceptable while you're along for the ride. Her parents seem to fall into this same trap. As Jenny's father, Alfred Molina gives a superb take as a man who comes off as having plenty of confidence but finds himself torn down when his daughter is discovered to have been taken advantage of.
 
My lone complaint is that very little running time (in fact, probably only a handful of minutes) is devoted to Jenny's eventual redemption at the end of the film to really give the sense that something significant was accomplished. Nevertheless, when you see this movie you will see yourself in some way or another. You will watch something that you have either experienced or will experience and it will make you ponder what your "education" in life has consisted of.
 
Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), Supporting Actor (Alfred Molina), and Adapted Screenplay. Although Molina is a wild card. If he doesn't land a nomination, he'll be in the non-existent 6th or 7th slot.

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Lessons in An Education

Director Lone Scherfig and Nick Hornby's adaptation of British journalist Lynn Barber's memoir of the same name follows 16-year-old Jenny Miller (Carey Mulligan), a bright Twickenham school girl who is on her way to studying literature at Oxford.

During her final year, while taking A levels, Jenny fortuitously meets the enigmatic thirty-something David (Peter Sarsgaard) in the rain, who then subsequently shows her the life that she's dreamed of; full of music, art, culture and even Paris with the aid of his uber trendy friends (Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike).

Confined by the early 1960's pre-Beatle mania, Jenny is a hostage of the times, to which David ultimately shows her a way out. Her father (Alfred Molina) does not allow her to play music, and wants her to study so she can get into Oxford and meet a nice man. As David charms both Jenny and her parents, he becomes the eligible husband that her parents were hoping for, and studying for Oxford becomes redundant, which ultimately brings the biggest question that the film poses: is an education necessary for Jenny to experience her desires and yearnings.

The two lead characters are played with perfection by American indie star Sarsgaard (Kinsey, Jarhead, Garden State and Orphan) and newcomer Mulligan, however it is the latter that steals the show. So rarely is such headstrong determination, vulnerability and such a true desire to experience such joie de vive encapsulated in a performance, but Mulligan nails it, and I predict an Oscar nomination for her, if not a win.

The film is complete with beyond competent direction by the Danish born Scherfig and a smart screenplay from Hornby (only his second screenplay, and first that is not adapted from one of his own stories) along with stunning performances from a strong supporting cast, with notable mentions to Olivia Williams as Jenny's teacher, Alfred Molina as Jenny's overbearing and yet anxious and vulnerable father and scene stealing moments from Emma Thompson and Sally Hawkins.

Expect to see An Education at the top of the upcoming "best" lists of 2009, and even at the Kodak theatre in February next year, with high chances of collecting Oscar gold. It is also, without a doubt, the ultimate must see film for a liberal arts student.

Vincent Snavely

Lessons in An Education

Director Lone Scherfig and Nick Hornby\'s adaptation of British journalist Lynn Barber\'s memoir of the same name follows 16-year-old Jenny Miller (Carey Mulligan), a bright Twickenham school girl who is on her way to studying literature at Oxford.

During her final year, while taking A levels, Jenny fortuitously meets the enigmatic thirty-something David (Peter Sarsgaard) in the rain, who then subsequently shows her the life that she\'s dreamed of; full of music, art, culture and even Paris with the aid of his uber trendy friends (Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike).

Confined by the early 1960\'s pre-Beatle mania, Jenny is a hostage of the times, to which David ultimately shows her a way out. Her father (Alfred Molina) does not allow her to play music, and wants her to study so she can get into Oxford and meet a nice man. As David charms both Jenny and her parents, he becomes the eligible husband that her parents were hoping for, and studying for Oxford becomes redundant, which ultimately brings the biggest question that the film poses: is an education necessary for Jenny to experience her desires and yearnings.

The two lead characters are played with perfection by American indie star Sarsgaard (Kinsey, Jarhead, Garden State and Orphan) and newcomer Mulligan, however it is the latter that steals the show. So rarely is such headstrong determination, vulnerability and such a true desire to experience such joie de vive encapsulated in a performance, but Mulligan nails it, and I predict an Oscar nomination for her, if not a win.

The film is complete with beyond competent direction by the Danish born Scherfig and a smart screenplay from Hornby (only his second screenplay, and first that is not adapted from one of his own stories) along with stunning performances from a strong supporting cast, with notable mentions to Olivia Williams as Jenny\'s teacher, Alfred Molina as Jenny\'s overbearing and yet anxious and vulnerable father and scene stealing moments from Emma Thompson and Sally Hawkins.

Expect to see An Education at the top of the upcoming \"best\" lists of 2009, and even at the Kodak theatre in February next year, with high chances of collecting Oscar gold. It is also, without a doubt, the ultimate must see film for a liberal arts student.

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