What an odd little film this is. Based on a memoir from British journalist Lynn Barber about her affair with a con artist when she was in school, the original essay was published in the literary magazine "Granta" and wasn't transformed into in a book until the film was well into production. Begin the oddness.
Nick Hornby, who wrote the screenplay, is a well-known British novelist (High Fidelity, About a Boy) and who has had several of his books and essays turned into films but hasn't done much in the way of screenwriting. Another oddness.
The story is straightforward. A young girl (16) is transfixed by the attentions of an older man who sees her walking home in the rain one day. Unknown to her initially, he is a con man who makes a living stealing art and also moving black families into housing units so when the old women who live there become afraid and want to move out, he can buy the units cheap.
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a bright and educationally motivated young woman who is a bit bored by her life and its predictable paths. Every one tells her she should go to Oxford. She thinks that's an okay idea until one day along comes this charismatic older man who shows her things she only daydreamed about - like night clubs and Paris and dog racing and all sorts of psuedo-sophisticated whirlwind events.
She's sixteen and he's much older - maybe by ten years or more. They don't sleep
with each other until she's seventeen so I guess that was okay but no character ever mentions the disparity in their ages which I found a little troubling. Even her very controlling parents don't seem to comment much about their relationship. The filmmakers would have you accept that they are as seduced by David (Peter Sarsgaard) as Jenny is. A bit of a stretch perhaps.
A concerned teacher tells her to finish her education but also never says anything about the gap in their ages or how it's painfully obvious that David can manipulate Jenny's hunger to live a bigger existence so easily. The people that David hangs with even comment on Jenny's grades in school with little or no recognition that she is still in school. Odd compounded.
Jenny's coming-of-age is both exciting and painful. Her arguments for her lifestyle changes to her friends and teachers are solid and seemingly informed but they are without a knowledge of how the world can turn on you - how wonderful can become horrible in an eye blink. Ultimately, she has her way in pretty much whatever she wants and as the saying goes - be careful what you wish for.
The movie takes a darker turn at this point and I'll spare the details so as not to spoil it. Jenny learns that life lived at that high a level has an equally high price. Living like an adult means being hurt like an adult. In most cases, there is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
Cary Mulligan as Jenny is luminous. If you've got a heartbeat you can't help but fall in love with her. She reminds me somewhat of Emily Watson when she was up and coming, especially in "Breaking The Waves." Mulligan's performance is instantly accessible and powerful - part of the reason is certainly the excellent dialogue with which Horny infuses the script. The other reason is Mulligan's pixish face. The dimples on this woman's cheeks are so disarming when she wants them to be - but inside there is a core made of solid steel. Mulligan knows exactly how to use all that to best effect.
The rest of the cast is equally as accomplished and excellent with veteran actors like Alfred Molina as Jenny's father and Emma Thompson (in a throwaway role) as the school principal.
Hornby's screenplay is serviceable for the most part. At times it really shines and crackles with his obvious skill. But things like tired montages, skipping over lakes of emotion instead of diving in, and some unsatisfying resolutions drag those sparkling moments down.
Nevertheless, this is the rarest of all films these days. A drama that is well-paced, interesting, and illuminates only a small corner of a world that isn't all that open to most of us. What 
makes it work is the scent of sleaze that wafts from the Sarsgaard character. You know he's wrong, you just don't want to believe it because his character also oozes a sincerity and hunger for normalcy that belies your instincts. There's no doubt he loves Jenny - he just has no way to make that connection on a truthful basis. A truly masterful character turn.
I am a bit confused by one thing in that this is a British film and yet not in the Foreign Film category. It's about as British as it can be and yet it's in the "American" Best Picture category. I've seen this before, obviously, but what are the rules these days? I'll have to look them up.
This film won't please you if you're expecting big moments where people shout and throw things and chew the scenes. But as is typical of excellent British drama, the many small moments are truly powerful and scream and bleed with the best of them.
At ninety-five minutes, I think this film could have been expanded by about ten minutes or so. It felt as if there were a few scenes missing - a too fast transition to the darker parts and no solid expansion of them.
"An Education" isn't perhaps the best film I've ever seen but it's pretty damned good. Although I doubt it will win, it is worthy certainly of Academy consideration - and yours.
