An Education (2009)

I would find it hard to imagine that one hasn't seen An Education before. Which is not to say that I think you've seen the movie itself, but simply that you've seen its like many, many times over. Its lineage is that of the after-school special, this one being a particular warning to young women about staying in school and not falling for the bad, older, boy.

I would also find it hard to imagine that you've ever seen an after-school special that could hold a candle to An Education in any way shape or form. It is a testament to the acting and the casting that it keeps you captivated the whole way through.

At its center are newcomer Carey Mulligan and indie-star Peter Sarsgaard as, respectively, the young woman about to fall and the older man encouraging her to do so. Mulligan is pitch-perfect playing Jenny, who far more mature and intelligent than her peers still manages to fall for Sarsgaard's David with his charm and grown-up intelligence. Despite this being perhaps her first leading role, Mulligan holds her own in every scene with Sarsgaard. Mulligan's Jenny never seems to fade from her confident self-assurance that she is in the right (until David's eventual betrayal) and that everything is going to be okay, even as it becomes quite clear that she is deceiving herself. It is simple dramatic irony: we, the viewers, know well before she does that all must not be right, but we are powerless to prevent Jenny from rushing headlong to the terrible ending of it all.

In many ways, perhaps, we don't want to stop her. The film keeps you going. You want to find out what is wrong with David. Sarsgaard, who only ever seems to play creeps, is in his element, exuding a charm that is just slightly off. Even after he reveals himself as a crook, he still seems incredibly honest, yet we know he must be holding some darker secret. It is a victory for the writing (predictable, in that it is penned by Nick Hornby) that the final twist turns out to be so mundane, yet so satisfying, that just as the movie treads familiar ground, so does Jenny. It is a victory for Sarsgaard that we know something must be wrong, but like Jenny, we are at a loss to figure out where. Even after I'd determined his character, I still could not fathom the nature of his betrayal until after the narrative revealed it to me.

Besides the captivating interplay between Mulligan and Sarsgaard, the film is rounded out by a series of excellent casting choices. Alfred Molina as Jenny's father is an excellent strict demanding parental figure, manipulated by David at every turn. Even when he gives a extended "money-doesn't-grow-on-trees" tirade, nothing about him screams cliche. Neither does Emma Thompson's as the proper English headmistress. Here, unfortunately, is where Mulligan's acting breaks down. Despite Thompson getting all of two scenes, she immediately owns them, even though she gets the minority of the lines in the first scene. Still, it does nothing to diminish the rest of Mulligan's performance.

Finishing up the cast are Dominic Cooper (whom I've always thought of as just an unlikable English pretty boy, thanks to his roles in Starter for 10 and The Duchess, but here he makes it work for him, and frankly he comes off more likable than Sarsgaard by the end of it) as David's accomplice, Danny, and Rosamund Pike (whom you'll remember as the sword fighting girlfriend of the main bad guy in the last Bond flick to star Pierce Brosnan) as Danny's vapid girlfriend.

In many ways, An Education is about the comfort one can find contained within a familiar story masterfully executed. Its plot and its characters are well-worn, but well told. Put it on your queue, post-haste.