An Education (2009)

Released October 22, 2009

Peter Sarsgaard has a peculiar way of being simultaneously seductive and sinister. He plays David in this 1960s coming-of-age tale from acclaimed scribe Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) and director Lone Scherfig.

David somehow makes a living through real estate, though he seems to spend more time hustling and crusing in his Bristol sports car. His charms seduce not only the young sixteen year old Jenny, played luminously by Carey Mulligan, but also her parents, Jack and Majorie. Alfred Molina's Jack is one of those stodgy, conservative and meddling fathers with a clear plan for his daughter's life: she is to advance her social status by striving academically and gaining entry to Oxford.

Living in the lower-middle class Twickenham, Jenny feels constrained by the conservative suburbia that has not yet hit the 60s revolution. She shuns her studies for, in her eyes, the far more attractive and carefree life with David and his swinging friends which include Dominic Cooper and the very blond Rosamund Pike. They frequent classical concerts, nightclubs, auctions and even have some time for a spot of low-class thieving: “I never did anything before I met you,” she tells David.

Even as the perceptive Jenny becomes aware of the less savoury aspects of her newfound life, and of the emptiness at the heart of her lover’s character, she feels compelled to follow it to its end. This is despite the stern words from behind the glasses of Emma Thompson’s headmistress, and the objections of Olivia Williams’ kindly teacher, Miss Stubbs. An attractive woman dressed unflatteringly by her own volition, Miss Stubbs feels an odd identification with her student, and perhaps a regret for paths not taken.

Beautifully shot with a real sense of the period, An Education is delightful and honest, even though the age difference between the burgeoning lovers is oddly never raised.

While Mulligan is the obvious star, also noteworthy is Ellie Kendrick as one of Jenny’s school friends. It’s a small role, but on the basis of her star turn in the BBC series The Diary of Anne Frank, she, like Mulligan, is destined for bigger things.