Set in suburban London in the early 1960's, An Education is a coming of age story of a schoolgirl, played by Carey Mulligan. Our young protagonist meets an older, 30-something lad, played by Peter Sarsgaard, and is dazzled by his free-spirited, wealthy and international lifestyle. He teaches her the finer things in life, the fun that can be had and the love that can be shared. However, as the two grow closer Mulligan learns that love is not always pretty in the garden of good and evil and her Adam is quite the white collar con artist, playing his 'clients,' her parents and even her. Ultimately, the schoolgirl learns a lesson about life and herself that she'll carry with her forever.
Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned was that there were no statutory rape laws in 1960s London. Perhaps I'm more of a prude than I thought, because there was something utterly disturbing about how normal it was that a 16 year-old was dating a man twice her age. Her parents practically wrap her up in a bow and willingly toss her off to the man! As long as he has some money and will take good care of her...and if he can elevate her status, even better! Ummm...excuse me?! Looking at the bigger picture, An Education captures the stifling limitations and lack of options for intelligent young women growing up in early 60s London, a world with one foot in Victorian England and the other in a modern, post-war era. Get an education, but only if it doesn't interfere with finding a husband! Rubbish.
An Education is a bit perplexing in that it is, and isn't, so many things. It's pretty without being beautiful, it's sensitive without being emotional (how very British), it's sophisticated without being pretentious (how very un-British) and, oddly enough, it's interesting while being rather dull. The writing is strong, subtle and witty, and it's a blessing to watch a movie about a schoolgirl that doesn't involve endless hours of teen angst care of the Twilight series (good lord they make high school look exhausting). But with little action it tends to meander rather than take the direct route, leading to "ok, and the point is....?" What I ended up gathering is that it's not meant to be a story full of action that wows you, it's a character sketch that's supposed to be provocative. And what a character she is.
This is Carey Mulligan's movie front to back - her big coming out party that shouts "I'm young, attractive AND I can act." Take that Scarlett Johansson! This movie would be nothing without Mulligan - what could otherwise be a boring snoozefest she turns into an Oscar worthy performance (hence her nomination). She's compelling, delightful to watch and even when she's not speaking your eye is just drawn to her on the screen. She has a very Katie Holmes, girl next door quality about her; that is if Katie wasn't really a droid and could act. While Peter Sarsgaard also delivers a solid performance, and does a great job slowly revealing his character over the course of the movie, he's way overshadowed by the rising star that is Mulligan. Already being hailed the next Audrey Hepburn or Kate Winslet, she is absolutely going to be someone to watch in the next few years. Just lay off the coke and stay the hell away from Hollywood starlets and you'll be just fine Carey!
An Education was a smash hit, blow out with critics but I'm not so sure I'm as carried away. Without Mulligan at the helm I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. While it can get rather droll at times, it is pretty compelling overall for a coming of age movie. It's certainly not for everyone, but if English coming of age movies are your thing (regardless of what that says about you) you'll thoroughly enjoy it. And if you're just a fan of plain good acting, you won't be let down by these performances. While I feel a bit wishy washy on the movie itself, Ms. Mulligan puts this one over the edge for me. So skip class and get An Education well worth a DO A MATINEE!
Check out the trailer.
1 comment:
I want to see this!
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