Newcomer Carey Mulligan stars as a 16-year-old who falls under the sway of Peter Sarsgaard’s thirty-something hepcat in post-war Britain. Adapted by Nick Hornby from Lynn Barber’s memoir, An Education looks back upon statutory rape as a rite of passage, and it’s a testament to fine performances that the film only feels icky in retrospect.
Mulligan musters memories of Audrey Hepburn, drinking in jazz clubs and every other symbol of sophistication that Sarsgaard’s predatory rake lavishes upon her. He’s so smooth her parents (played by Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) don’t just consent to the affair—they seem to fall in love, too. But will Jenny’s dream of attending Oxford get hijacked by this beau and his creepy bedroom baby-talk?
Directed by Lone Scherfig, An Education certainly means well, positioning Mulligan’s Jenny as a woman brighter and more promising than the possibilities offered by her era. Her futures are summed up in either Olivia Williams’ stern, sexless schoolmarm or Rosamund Pike’s glamorous, dim-bulb arm candy. Sarsgaard’s world of nightclubs, classical music and high fashion is rendered in lavish colors, sharply contrasting the rainy palate of Jenny’s boring prep school and dreary home life.
But something about the movie still feels false. There’s nobody better than Hornby at dissecting the way people define themselves through their tastes, but in other respects his screenplay is too fussy and neat for its own good. This is a middlebrow view of what must have been a messy affair. Scherfig keeps everything humming along at room temperature; with even the betrayals and recriminations occurring at a genteel pitch, as if everyone’s afraid to raise their voices.
Hornby’s novels always cut so close to the bone, it’s shocking how content An Education is to skate along the surface. C
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1. anon said... on Nov 6, 2009 at 02:34AM
“Finally someone's acknowledging the casual, grandiosely parent accomodated pedophilia in this!
This and Roman Polanski have obliterated my once held beliefs that statutory rape laws are silly.”
2. Tom Myler said... on Nov 12, 2009 at 11:19PM
“I agree with this review. Something about this movie seemed very false. It's almost like there too much of a "Juno" influence. But overall, this movie is a big yuck for not taking very seriously the seriousness of what went on in the life of the girl.”
3. Anonymous said... on Nov 17, 2009 at 12:28PM
“Sirs, I know this may come as a surprise to you, but this is actually a British film made in Britain about British people. As you're no doubt unaware, the age of consent in Britain was and is 16, not 18. The Statutory rape/ paedophilia jibes don't really apply.”
4. Anonymous said... on Dec 12, 2009 at 05:07PM
“#3 anonymous, you may quibble about the age of statutory rape in different jurisdictions, but the movie *is* about an experienced, predatory older man taking advantage of an underage girl. According to the movie, there are no consequences for risky behavior, emotional or physical. Then society wonders why there's so much dysfunction out there (people with mega-baggage, etc.). The lack of social cost for bad behavior encourages more bad behavior).”