An Education

It's the early Sixties and 16 year old English girl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is studying hard to get into Oxford. But doing the right thing, getting a degree, seems so dull and boring. And what does it get you? The chance to be dull and boring like her stern teacher? Along comes David (Peter Sarsgaard in a Hugh Grant-like cad role), a man in his thirties who charms her (and her parents) and introduces her to a world of concerts and eating out in restaurants and jetting off to Paris just for the heck of it. True, his occupation is dubious, and his friends Danny and Helen (Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike) seem only interested in pleasure, but the Life seems so much more fun than the dull life school and education can offer. But, of course, getting things easy is usually not the best, and young Jenny does learn her lessons. A sweet little coming-of-age story directed by Lone Scherfig (Italian For Beginners), with a wonderfully comic performance by Alfred Molina as Jenny's father. (7.5/10)