The last time I saw a teenage girl this cute, clever, and endearing, her name was Juno MacGuff in a film I had pegged as Best Picture of 2008. As it turned out, Juno lost, inexplicably in this reviewer’s mind, to No Country for Old Men. (Right filmmakers, wrong movie.) An Education didn’t win Best Picture either, although it was nominated, as was Carey Mulligan for Best Actress (rightfully so) for her portrayal of Jenny, a 16-year old, Oxford-bound student in 1961 who is both victim and beneficiary of a romance with David, a much older man, played by David Sarsgaard (who I guarantee you will never see in the same room with Keifer Sutherland).
Jenny is smitten by David, and why not? He is charming and educated, has sophisticated friends, and takes Jenny places she’s never been – jazz clubs, concerts, even Paris. He buys her things and introduces her to a world she has never known. Soon Jenny is looking more like a stylish Audrey Hepburn than a high school student. She forges ahead with the relationship – ultimately towards her seventeenth birthday, the day she has determined will be the day she loses her virginity to David – despite the misgivings of her teacher, her school’s headmistress (Emma Thompson) and everybody else. Well, not quite everybody. Her father (Alfred Molina) is smitten by the charming David as well. Her daughter could do worse. Besides, the apparently well-to-do David can support Jenny and by so doing, render an expensive education at Oxford unnecessary.
The thing about An Education is that we know the path Jenny is taking is the wrong one. And yet, we cannot help sympathizing with her, even wondering if maybe we’re mistaken. Maybe this relationship can actually work. Maybe David is right for her. We almost hope so, even though our instincts tell us otherwise. Perhaps these are Jenny’s feelings too. There is a wonderful scene where she seemingly has her headmistress on the ropes, asking her what life might really be about, and getting nothing satisfactory as an answer in return. We almost want to cheer for Jenny in the scene, even though doing so would clearly be against our better judgment.
An Education, directed by Danish director Lone Scherfig, works and works well. It is an exceptional coming-of-age film as well as a wonderful period piece. As Juno before her, Jenny gets an education, but as with both films, we feel a little wiser too.
8.5/10