There are only 3 months left to the 2009 movie season and -as far as I'm concerned- Hollywood hasn't churned out many great movies, here's one; Lone Scherfig's An Education will renew your passion for film. I wasn't bored by a single one of the 95 minutes I saw and -trust me- that's high praise these days. There is an almost typical naivete to Jenny -incomparably played by Cary Mulligan- as she meets the first love of her life David, a Jewish fraud artist that Jenny sees as the perfect man. David is played by the always reliable Peter Sarsgaard & the character is so well thought out that one might wonder how such a humane character can also be so conniving & -oh boy- thoughtful.
What works so well with Nick Hornsby's screenplay is the way it avoids the usual cliches that usually drown this type of film. I was struck by the number of times I thought 'oh no it's going that direction' & then it goes the other way and surprises us. Buzz has already been talked about on Mulligan's performance, so much so that I won't take much time on it and just say that it is an exceptional one- deserving of all the awards that will likely come her way in the next few months. Jenny isn't exactly a victim in the mess she gets herself into, if anything, she is going through a learning experience that even school cannot dare give her- As Lisa Schwarzbaum pointed out in her review, Jenny could easily be the main character in The Beatles' She's Leaving Home, a song that aptly describes a time when innocence and truth came out for so many women -and- men.
The crisis Jenny goes through in this exceptional movie is a universal one that -sadly- every female had to go through in the early 60's. A decade that would change all that and would quickly position woman's rights as -almost equally-powerful & relevant as men's. Alfred Molina Plays Jenny's Dad and he is as confused as she is about her future. He wants his daughter to have the education she so richly deserves & go to Oxford but he knows that a man like David is an even better choice, because it is a more plausible and successful option than having a diploma & being a woman in the 60's. The film comes out in November, I advise you seek it out.