An Education
- Title: An Education
- IMDB: link
An Education is based on the autobiographical memoir of Lynn Barber. Set in 1950, the story centers around 16 year-old Jenny Miller (Carey Mulligan) and her relationship with a charismatic older David Goldman gentleman caller (Peter Sarsgaard) who turns her world upside down.
What follows is a May/December romance that everyone sees happening, including Jenny, her teachers, and her parents (Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour), but no one can prevent.
Mulligan provides the heart of the film, and will no doubt recieve a fair amount of praise for her performance. Although I’d seen her in small roles as one of the Bennet sisters in Pride & Prejudice and one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, I didn’t know she could carry the bulk of a quiet dramatic film on her own.
As good as she is, it’s Sarsgaard’s performance that I was most impressed with. There’s little to like about David, especially as the film slowly reveals more damaged layers of his character.
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