An Education

Name: An Education
Genre: Drama
Released: October 9, 2009
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 85
Cast: Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard

2009

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 236 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 236 Ratings

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An Education

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 9, 2009 | PG-13

Starring: Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard

Summary: In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a
charismatic older man. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Director: Lone Scherfig

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Andrew O'Hehir

An Education captures the very limited possibilities for female liberation in early-'60s London -- with massive social change on the distant horizon, but not here yet -- in exquisite detail. Read full review

100

Liam Lacey

Hornby is a fine craftsman and his dialogue sparkles, though occasionally the scenes are too calculated. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

An Education shares with Hornby’s best work trenchant insight into the way smart, hyper-verbal young people let the music, films, books, and art they love define themselves as they figure out who they are and what they want to be. Read full review

Michael Phillips

The film version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” came out in the year in which An Education is set, and beyond the hairstyles, there’s something of the willful, gleeful Golightly reinvention expert about Jenny. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Carey Mulligan shines in a captivating performance. Read full review

Joe Neumaier

Watch Mulligan's face as she goes from weary to awakened, and see it all come together. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

Lone Scherfig directs it all as if it were a breezy lark, so a third-act tonal shift makes for an incongruous, excessively moralistic fit with everything that’s preceded. Most insulting, though, is the way in which the climactic passages miraculously tidy up every frayed edge of Jenny’s life. Read full review

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User Reviews

marnee96

Nov 4, 2011

An Education is a nice coming-of-age tale with an important message that may resonant with a lot of young people. And it sports an impressive cast and a star-making performance from Carey Mulligan. 4/4 stars.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Happy

Dec 6, 2009

Wonderful, faithfully recreated tale from a bygone non-pc era.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

StevenF

May 14, 2013

There probably aren't enough words to outline how beautiful, enjoyable, emotionally driven and often humorous the fantastic An Education is,but lets try anyway.
Taking place in 1962, we meet Jenny, a 16 year-old schoolgirl, played very convincingly and warming by Carey Mulligan, we seeThere probably aren't enough words to outline how beautiful, enjoyable, emotionally driven and often humorous the fantastic An Education is,but lets try anyway.
Taking place in 1962, we meet Jenny, a 16 year-old schoolgirl, played very convincingly and warming by Carey Mulligan, we see Jenny being swept off her feet by the mysterious and confident David, (played by Peter Sarsgaard), in a time when an Oxford education is sought after, but a wealthy husband will do just fine.
Jenny is introduced to a world alive and full of colour when she is in David's company, joined by his friends Helen (Rosamund Pike) and Danny (Dominic Cooper), they embark on a journey throughout the lives of free-spirited individuals, concerts, late night suppers, trips throughout the country and beyond. The film really outlines just how different life was in 1960s Britain, it was perhaps more acceptable for the events that unfold in the film, but with such a sunny outlook there are of course clouds in the distance.
As common sense would go, its natural for people to be concerned about the blossoming relationship, simply for how much brighter the other path seems, its a difficult and thoughtful concept of educational needs over living life through your own accordance.
Peter Sarsgaard puts in a fantastic performance as the classy and forthright David, someone who gets what he wants, and knows just what to say, but without ever seeming deceiving or over-bearing about it. Sarsgaard perfectly captures someone who easily sways those around him to live life in the fast lane.
Mulligan puts a superb performance in as the smart, witty and beautiful schoolgirl Jenny, a girl who loves to think for herself, but rarely sees a life outside of her books and overbearing yet kind-hearted father (Alfred Molina).
The era that the film is set in is perfectly handled by the superb writing and wonderfully acted gem of a film, that never tries to aim too high above what story it is telling, it never claims to be something it isn't.
While the ending was a little weak and too expected after the last half hour, this is a wonderful film that takes a risky subject but in a way opens up the eyes of the younger generation to all sorts of opportunities, outlining that not everything is black and white.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

PeterG

Dec 22, 2009

If the movie had been about 1 minute shorter, stopping immediately after the scene where she asked her former English teacher for help, I would have rated it more highly. The last minute wraps things up too quickly, neatly and simply, making sure we know everything turns out all right. A If the movie had been about 1 minute shorter, stopping immediately after the scene where she asked her former English teacher for help, I would have rated it more highly. The last minute wraps things up too quickly, neatly and simply, making sure we know everything turns out all right. A typical ending for an American script, not a good European one.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

hanneguacamole

May 28, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Jenny doesn't just get An Education at Oxford, she gets a life education as well. David is a charming man–everyone is enamored. He's wealthy, smart, has fun,, and is quite a bit older than Jenny. Her parents only want the best for her, which seems to be an education, but they meet this shiny new person and this shiny new relationship which may be able to provide more for their daughter than any education ever could. I saw the relationship as one that was not only wrong due to their age, but also quite disturbing in how an older man would prey on a 16 year-old girl.

Jenny is an excellent student and devotes most of her time to her studies, learning as much as she can to be prepared for this magnificent education and future that her parents have planned. But with David it's different. She has fun, and isn't that all everyone wants to do? It's not sustainable though. Her grades start to slip and all of a sudden she loses interest in school altogether because she's found greener grass. A husband. "Money doesn't grow on trees" is a sentiment echoed from both Jenny's father and David, and on one side we have a man who is trying to provide for his family and the other is a thief who just wants all the luxuries in life without working for them.

The movie starts to expose these flaws about David and their relationship that we see quite clearly, but Jenny's young and naïve eyes gloss over. It's uneasy but she throws her future away anyway. David's promises and gifts get larger and larger as the web he spins becomes stronger and stronger until Jenny is stuck. She has nowhere to go but to him. It's not like she doesn't receive fair warning "I'm telling you to go to Oxford no matter what because if you don't, you'll break my heart," she just follows what she thinks is her heart instead. But who can blame her?

Then the bomb is dropped just as Jenny is promised this magnificent life. David is married and Jenny has flushed her education down the drain. This is her rock bottom and she really has nowhere to go but up with the help of her teacher. I'm not very old myself, but from the beginning I knew this was bad for Jenny, if only because of his age. He's had many relationships with other girls and Jenny is no different no matter how special he made her feel. She just has to pick up the pieces and start again. It was a coming-of-age story, but one that I almost which would have given more independence to the girl to show her own future and recognize that this relationship was wrong. But you live and you learn. "I feel old, but not very wise."… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Johnl

Nov 29, 2009

Great acting and a scary/dreamy script with a distinctly different plot yet somehow it seems hollow.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Mila

Mar 14, 2010

"Mulligan was perfect"? What came over you, people?! She doesn't develop a character at all

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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