reviewed by Charity Bishop
     

There is something fascinating about older men: perhaps it is that they are more highly educated or have had greater life experiences... maybe it is because some of them are powerful.... or that some of them know how to seduce impressionable young women...

Life for the imaginative and spirited Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is tedious and boring. Her overbearing father (Alfred Molina) rules the household with an iron fist and insists she focus every waking moment on making it into Oxford College for what he deems a "proper education." Thus she spends hours reading and translating dull Latin textbooks and playing her French records low enough so that he won't hear them and complain. One of her "forced" hobbies that will look excellent on a college application is playing the cello. Jenny has become more fond of it than she would care to admit or that her father approves of -- and it is apparent when David (Peter Sarsgaard) pulls up next to her on a rainy afternoon and offers the cello a lift that he too cares about her music. Promising not to steal it, David drives along the avenue beside her until Jenny chooses to get in out of the downpour. He drops her off at home and the following week sends her ten bob's worth of flowers, to wish her luck with her scheduled recital.

Jenny's father is disapproving and determined to put his foot down when David offers to take her to a concert the following week -- but then he meets the charming young businessman and has a profound change of heart. Jenny has the time of her life with David, and his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). Adopted rapidly into their inner circle, she is soon finding reasons to further go out with him and discovering along the way that nothing is ever simple and there is more to her new companions than she might think. As a film, An Education is a fairly decent accomplishment. Its content is unnerving at times but never overdone and ultimately it is about one young woman's struggles with growing up and contending with the consequences of her behavior. It is inspired by a true story and takes place in the 1950's, a far different time -- that is apparent in how easily Jenny and David manage to mislead her overly trusting and naive parents. The characters are established and we become fond of some and less so of others before we learn the truth about all of them, which is a credit to a decent script. The actors involved are also quite good -- Carey Mulligan turns in a marvelous performance as a girl transitioning into womanhood, complete with awkward pauses and sudden spurts of daring.

Cinematically, the film is nice to look at and features some great original sequences -- such as Jenny's first visit to Paris and the wonder of being there, as well as a fun opening sequence that showcases the youthful exuberance of sixteen year old girls. That's one thing I neglected to mention -- Jenny is all of sixteen, a year older when she consents to sleep with David for the first time. Fortunately, the film spares us anything explicit -- merely some conversation about losing virginity and wanting to wait for awhile, as well as various warnings from concerned teachers that can tell she is getting in over her head. There are two embarrassing and awkward scenes between her and David that feature peculiar dialog (she calls it "baby talk") and his offer to help her practice with a banana. (Offended, she states that she has no intention of losing her virginity to a banana!) Other than that the content is mild -- although he does convince her to show her breasts off to him in exchange for not sleeping together their first night in a hotel room (the camera sees nothing). Jenny is asked multiple times if she is being "safe" and avoiding pregnancy. Language consists of a couple mild profanities and insults. There is a great deal of smoking and drinking.

The film is a little alarming in the sense that it explores what most would classify as a pedophile relationship (seventeen is actually over the age of consent in the United Kingdom -- but that does not make David's behavior any more appropriate). It approaches the notion of adultery and toys with the concept that Jenny's mistake could cost her everything but has a happy conclusion in the sense that after everything falls apart, she manages to get her life back on track. Good for Jenny, but perhaps not so realistic in terms of the time period. There's also references to David and Danny being con men who frequently rip old ladies off when it comes to real estate and antiques. There is an adulterous subplot. It's an interesting film but not one that comes with great moral weight. The audience suspects David is a creep but at the same time find him sinisterly charming, while hoping Jenny will not get hurt and knowing that inevitably all her lies are going to catch up to her. It's an odd movie that will not appeal to a lot of people due to its chosen topic but that could have been much worse in terms of content. It was nice to see an unsavory topic handled with a certain amount of discretion.