An Education

An Education not only takes place in the UK in the early 60s but it mimics the mood of English films made in that era. Think films like Darling or Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. Yet An Education has a different kind of tale in mind. To start out in the proper breezy mood the opening credits pop up while Floyd Cramer's "On the Rebound" bounces around in the background.
An Education will be remembered as the movie that thrust Carey Mulligan into the public eye even though she's been in television and films for a few years. Her lead turn as 16-year old Jenny centers on a character who wants more than a prim life like her parents. Mulligan really is the reason to see the film and I can easily see An Education's appeal extending past the art house crowd to adolescent girls eager to vicariously live through Jenny's lessons.
Jenny's mum and pop (Cara Seymour and Alfred Molina) encourage her to do well in school but also place emphasis on being a small cog in the wheel of life. A chance meeting with the obviously older David (Peter Sarsgaard) leads to an affair of the heart that makes Jenny wise beyond her years. Oddly as the film progresses you like Jenny more but David starts to become increasingly creepy.
The period evocation is top-notch and supporting players Seymour and Molina hit all the right notes as strict yet understanding parental units. Also raising the bar are Rosamund Pike and Dominic Cooper as upwardly mobile friends of David. Lending credence to Jenny's moral tutorial are stern scenes with teachers and administrators played by Olivia Williams (her character of Miss Stubbs aptly decribes her looks and personality) and Emma Thompson (in boo hiss mode).
An Education breathes fresh air into the romance genre. It's certainly more reality based than 500 Days of Summer, but probably not the film to ignite a new wave for British movies. An Education is playing exclusively at the River Oaks Three.