Based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, An Education has plenty in it to engage middle class audiences who enjoy revelling in retro-scandal shenanigans, particularly those of the pre-Swinging 60s. Other viewers however may scratch their heads as to why the book merits being made into a film.
Carey Mulligan, who has featured in a number of supporting roles on TV and in the cinema, is given her chance to break through in the leading role of Jenny, a prim and proper schoolgirl whose sole focus at the beginning of the story is to please her parents (wonderfully played by Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) by passing the Oxford Entrance exam. Her reveries of all things French make her dream for a life outside of dreary Twickenham, and when she meets the dashing and charming David (Peter Sarsgaard, an American actor cast in an English role), it looks like these dreams might come true.
Is David too good to be true? Shattered illusions and how to deal with them seems to be the central premise of An Education, but quite a large suspension of disbelief is required on behalf of the audience for it to work. Everything that happens is quite clearly signposted, and what fun there has is predominantly gained from the acting and Danish director Lone Scherfig’s skilful handling of the material and the period.
Mulligan shines, and in supporting roles so do Dominic Cooper as David’s winsome friend and (particularly) Rosamund Pike as his less than clued-in girlfriend. Sarsgaard does the oily boyfriend role well, but his accent is not completely convincing.
It’s all highly watchable and entertaining enough, thanks to a script by Nick Hornby, but it’s not a film that is likely to have any lasting impact: the easiest comparison would be to a middle class, and middle of the road, soap opera.
Paul Hurley
