An Education: Review

An Education! A British comedy film about..... education! Hahahaha okay lameness again. So as we may already know, this little film is one of the 10 contenders for the 82nd Academy Awards. So is this film worthy to be up in the ranks of the likes of Avatar, Precious, Up, District 9 and Up In The Air? Oh yeah!

 

An Education is a coming of age film about Jenny, played by Carey Mulligan, who's a 17 year old who's life has only revolved around studying and getting into Oxford. Her parents pressure her to death to get good grades. Her friends are boring geeky losers. And her only choice for a boyfriend is a total wimp. By a chance of fate she meets David, a 30 year old luxury thief who gives her a taste of the fantastic glam life. The two fall head over heels with each other and we see Jenny beginning to break free from the boring life she had before.

 

Education was directed by Lone Scherfig who previously did Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself which was hella hella funny. The script for the film is really nicely done. The dialog between characters where fine and their retorts are incredibly British-y smart.

 

I always get this syndrome after watching British films. I just love how the speak hahaha. It just sounds so smart. After watching a Brit film I find myself trying to copy their accent. Hahahaha, don't judge meee!!

 

Oh and I absolutely adore the British costumes of the precocious 1960's fashion. The glam segments had some of the coolest looking suits and dresses. And I really like Peter Sarsgard's car. I want that car muahahaha.

 

Carey Mulligan is amazingly wonderful playing an adolescent girl who wants to be treated like an adult but at the same time has the fear of being eaten up by the real world. A role I think we kids know too well. She came a long way from Pride & Prejudice where she was so annoying. She's an absolute fine lady in this film, totally deserving of her Oscar nomination. And I love her laugh. It's the cutest giggle I've ever heard!

 

 

Rosamund Pike is an absolute goddess in this. She plays some sort of mentor to Carey Mulligan's character. Her character reminds me of Audrey Tautou in Priceless. Her character is the woman every girl wishes they can grow up to be. The glamorous classy socialite who lives a life of riches through the many men she has manipulated. But even with all that glam there's still this lingering fear inside of her at how volatile her lifestyle is. At any moment she could go from rich to a washed up has-been once her man gets bored of her.

 

But my absolute fav was Alfred Molina as Jenny's father. You guys might know him has the octo guy from Spider-man 2 hahaha. My favoritism scene in Education is when his character finds out his daughter has been lying to him about what she's been doing. He balanced anger, disappointment and worry into a very simple subtle monologue of how he still loves his daughter regardless of all the terrible things she's done behind his back.

 

What I wished they would have changed about the film was not be so preachy about how important it is for kids to study till they get 100A's. The ending felt kinda propaganda-ish. Like, see if you have fun, you're life is going to be ruined forever so STUDY! But other than that I was really satisfied with An Education.

RATING: 7/10