An Education is one of those simple, small, lovely movies that get a lot of critical acclaim upon release but aren’t generally remembered years later. There is nothing groundbreaking here, just a smart script, understated direction and a host of strong performances all in the service of a charming coming-of-age tale. If it seems like I’m damning the film with faint praise, well, I guess I am… I’m trying to work out why a film that does so many things right hasn’t really resonated with me more.
The script was adapted from Lynn Barber’s memoir by Nick Hornby, one of my favorite authors, and he’s on his way to a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination — deservedly so. The dialogue is witty without feeling written, the characters extremely well-drawn and three-dimensional. For a film with little in the way of driving action, it has a definite sense of pace and suspense.
Much of the lavish praise the film has received has centered, understandably, on the performance of newcomer Carey Mulligan. She portrays Jenny, a 16-year-old London girl on the brink of going to Oxford before being swept off her feet by a charming older man (played by the great Peter Sarsgaard). It’s not so much the man, David, who wins her heart but the world to which he introduces her — a celebration of art and culture, trips to Paris, a bit of roguish behavior, the antithesis of the suburban life she’s always known.
Mulligan gives Jenny a fierce intelligence to match her wide-eyed sense of wonder. You never feel that she’s a victim of her circumstances, even as she rushes headlong into “bad idea” territory, because she’s very much in charge. She’s on a journey to find meaning in life and she challenges the adults who surround her to give her a convincing reason to choose boredom over excitement. None are very successful.
She is particularly let down by her parents. It’s sad how quickly her father (played by the always wonderful Alfred Molina) switches from pushing her to be accepted to Oxford to pushing her into the arms of her well-to-do suitor. He’s as caught up in the romance as she is, and reveals that his ambitions for her had more to do with financial security than her own achievements.
At school, her English teacher (played by the lovely Olivia Williams) struggles to hold on to her brightest student while the headmistress (Emma Thompson, in the memorably curt Judi Dench role) looks down her nose as Jenny’s naivete.
All of this makes for strong drama, and watching Jenny navigate this minefield is compelling. But the film falters in its final scenes. Circumstances make Jenny’s decision about her future all too easy and events are wrapped up a bit too neatly. I found myself wishing for more scenes with Williams’ character, Miss Stubbs, a testament to her performance but a knock on either the screenplay or the editing.
Mulligan is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, and she’s earned it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her joined by Molina, Hornby and perhaps director Lone Scherfig and the film itself. That would be overkill. It’s a fine, thought-provoking film but a minor one.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Why is it minor?
How is it any different than A Serious Man, a film you currently have perched as the current best film of the year? Both are period films but don’t ever clobber the viewer over the head with that fact; both explore the compromises and tough decisions made by their flawed but well-meaning characters; both contain beautifully written, witty and powerful scripts, strong performances by a cast of actors who exemplify what ensemble acting is all about, unsurpassed art direction, artful, understated direction. Both have their roots in true stories, though A Serious Man only in terms of tone and setting, while An Education springs from the author’s memoir (which I found made it easier to swallow the “cirumstances that make Jenny’s decision… all too easy”)
I don’t mean to compare the two films to such an extent, but I am currently waging an internal battle to determine which is my favorite of the year, while you have declared one the “winner” and dismissed the other as “minor.” Come on! 😉
So… yes, I agree with much of what you say. Mulligan and Molina should both be nominated, and the scene where Molina stands outside his daughter’s bedroom door should sew up his victory as far as I’m concerned. While I appreciate your desire for another scene with Williams’ character, I found the scenes between teacher and student absolutely riveting. One of the best scenes of this year is when Jenny visits her teacher at her home. Everything about that scene – the art direction, the performances, the dialogue – is perfect. Another moment of screen time for Williams before it (your knock on the script or editing) likely would have made it less powerful.
In short, I adore this film. I imagine I will remember it years later, every bit as much as I will remember A Serious Man. Or as much as I do remember Say Anything, Whale Rider, Truly, Madly, Deeply, Rachel Getting Married, Before Sunset, and so on. I guess, for me, it’s the “minor” films that make the most major impact.
I don’t mean minor in terms of its scope, scale or ambitions… I mean so more in my reaction to it. All of the films you mention at the end of your comment resonate with me deeply in a way this one didn’t.
That’s not what you said. You didn’t write that your reaction was minor; you wrote that the film, while thought-provoking and fine, is minor. So again I pose my question – why did this film, just as fine and ambitious and well-executed in terms of its scope, scale and ambition as any of the others that I mentioned, NOT resonate with you deeply? What about it missed the mark? Is it simply more difficult for you to identify with the female protagonist? Did you not appreciate the choices she had to make? That the other women in the film (her mother, her friends, the teacher, the dean, the girlfriend, the wife) had to make? Was it the setting? The time period? Did you tire of the accents? What was it? 🙂
Back off, woman! It was none of those things. You can’t always quantify what makes one film knock your socks off and another not. This one didn’t. I appreciated many things about it but didn’t love it… and I have no desire to see it again, which is always one of my criteria when determining the year’s best films.
well, you’re just silly 🙂 Meanwhile, I just discovered that Lone Sherfig is a woman, so I’m so hoping she’ll be nominated. Imagine – 2 women directors nominated, one (Bigelow) with a strong shot of winning! What a year that would be!