An Education is a simple story about a girl becoming a woman and figuring out who exactly she is in this world. It is about her experiences and exposure to a world she never knew and opening her eyes to a new way of living life. Director Lone Scherfig‘s story is simple and complex at the same time. It’s the journey of one’s life and even though things seem so simple, they are far from it.
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a sheltered teenager who is destined to go to Oxford University, but she practically has no choice in the matter. Her father, played by Alfred Molina, has already got her life planned out for her and it starts with her getting her education at Oxford.
Jenny is waiting to bust out of the life she is living and run off to Paris. She is a rebel and cannot be held back. When David (Peter Sarsgaard) meets Jenny while driving in his fancy car, she is swept off her feet. David is much older than Jenny, but he is smooth and charming. This is how he gets Jenny, but also gets her parents, including her strict father.
He has a way with words and telling stories that could get him in or out of any situation. Thanks to David, Jenny gets to enjoy a taste of a different life. A much more luxurious way of life. However, how David provides her with this certain lifestyle is a secret, and even when Jenny finds out, she is very understanding. But she’s in love. Naive, but in love.
The title of this film is so appropriate. Ultimately, this film goes from getting an education at Oxford that Jenny may not want to instead getting an education about life that she never expected. Mulligan is a young, but impressive actress. She plays Jenny amazingly. Jenny is a rebel, but naïve. She is beautiful, strong, and smart, but everyone gets caught up in something. Love can make you ignore everything else.
Mulligan has all of these traits and qualities to play a girl who is getting to know who she is and wants to be. She has come out of nowhere and has created a character that has flaws, but is learning how to correct them. Her performance is this film’s bread and butter, and I smell an Oscar nomination in the future.
I do not want to dismiss Sarsgaard’s performance either, because it is good. But he takes a backseat to Mulligan’s Jenny. He is the older man who can show her the world she has been missing. However, he is not perfect and in the end may not be the man Jenny thought he was.
Molina deserves some of the spotlight, too. Jenny’s father appears strict and close-minded. In actuality, he is just scared for his daughter. He loves her and wants the best for her and I think Molina makes that very clear on the screen. He wants Jenny to get her education, but he is swept up just as much as his daughter is by David’s charm. All of these characters have flaws but it is uncovering them and fixing them that is important.
An Education is a good film with great performances, especially by Molina and Mulligan as father and daughter. Simply put, this film is about life. Life’s journey and everything it offers or throws at you. Jenny gets her education, but she is young and has a lot more life to live. This is just a small chapter in her life. You live and learn.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
