REVIEW: An Education

The plot summary for An Education from IMDb.com:

Jenny ( Carey Mulligan) a very bright girl on the cusp of her 17th birthday, finds herself in a whirlwind romance with the much older David ( Peter Sarsgaard). Prior to meeting him, Jenny was working hard at secondary school to ensure getting to Oxford University. When she sees the lifestyle David can provide, one she never imagined could be hers, she's hooked and thoughts of Oxford are forgotten. Then, when things are looking pretty good for Jenny with the dashing ( yet a little too smooth) David, the truth hits her like a ton of bricks. Jenny goes from being a bright eyed school girl and a sophisticated young lady, all the way back to questioning if she really knows who she is at all. 'An Education' won the Audience Choice award and the Cinematography award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Life is about choices. Who we are with, what we do, where we go. It has always seemed unfair to me that the choices we have to make in our late teens/early twenties can often have the greatest impact on our lives, just when we're the silliest and least prepared to make them. I marvel that so many of us make it through this time without making a disastrous mistake. Jenny, the protagonist of An Education, has difficult choices to make herself. Does she go to Oxford as planned and go on to lead a "boring" life? Or does she live her life of "fun" with David, her much older lover? Yes, sounds like a tense coming-of-age film with drama, mistakes, and tragedy. And it is, but An Education is surprisingly funny as well, starting with some light and energetic opening titles and then leading into a humorous argument with her parents. There is the struggle of making sense of it all and the weight of decisions that will effect the rest of her life, but its presented in a manner that, while stressing their importance, still gives the feel of looking back at your young self and laughing at your own ignorance.

This movie is fantastic in that it feels like youth, exciting, romantic, scary, and magical. There is the furious joy of a first infatuation, the wonder of new experiences, realization that parents can fail and that you can disappoint. As a viewer, I felt sucked into this intoxicating feeling. The things Jenny was experiencing felt new and at the same time old and familiar. While Jenny makes the decision that alters the course of her life, I found myself thinking, "this is not the right choice, but I can't remember why..." Jenny's youth and way of thinking had convinced me, as the viewer, of the wisdom of her choice as much as she had convinced herself. In the end the lesson is learned (by Jenny and the audience) that some mistakes can be corrected, but you never get back your "first time" for life's experiences.

There has been a lot of talk about Carey Mulligan, the star of An Education, and she does a great job. But the performance that really stood out to me was Rosamund Pike. She does an excellent job playing the dimwitted friend of David. Playing dumb in an effortless manner is very challenging, but Pike is wonderful as this nitwit of a character and is completely convincing. An Education is wrought with fine acting, from Alfred Molina as Jenny's father to Peter Sarsgaard as the selfish David.

I think its safe to say that An Education may well be the best film I've seen this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes into my top 5.

Kinsey: 5/5 stars
Wade: 5/5 stars