An Education Review: Men, Booze, Homework, the English Countryside and Oscars An Education is a movie that's gotten a lot of critical attention over the past year, so when I finally saw it recently I expected something completely different than what I got. What the movie is is a perfectly enjoyable coming-of-age story that is slightly smarter than its peers, the quaint British film of the year, and likely the launching of a new star in Carey Mulligan. What it isn't is groundbreaking or brilliant, which is what I assumed it was considering all the snooty buzz, but it is worth seeing if you like the genre, and/or want in on this Carey Mulligan action from the ground up.

The film follows a 17-year-old private school girl in 1960s England who has her sights set on Oxford. She's an over-achiever, mostly due to the intense pressure her father puts on her, but when an older playboy (Peter Sarsgaard) comes to town to sweep her off her feet and show her how the world really is, she gains a richer education and more street smarts than her expensive private school could ever offer. But, of course, he turns out to be far from what he seems. She learns everything about men in a few months that most women take years to learn, basically. It's a crash course, you see.

And that's all fine, really. The story is a little nuts and her father is pretty unbelievable, but the point of this movie is that Carey Mulligan is a terrific actress who just took the States by storm with this performance. If she doesn't get an Oscar nomination for this (it's really too early to say), she will get one for something next year, or the year after. It's best to familiarize yourself with her now.

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