An Education (2009)
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 179
Fresh: 168 | Rotten: 11
Though the latter part of the film may not appeal to all, An Education is a charming coming-of-age tale powered by the strength of relative newcomer Carey Mulligan's standout performance.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 34 | Rotten: 3
Though the latter part of the film may not appeal to all, An Education is a charming coming-of-age tale powered by the strength of relative newcomer Carey Mulligan's standout performance.
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Movie Info
A suburban London teen finds her traditional education replaced by something slightly more sinister when an older, more worldly suitor sweeps her off of her feet while placing her future in jeopardy. London, 1961: 16-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is smart, attractive, and eager to start her adult life. She's grown tired of the familiar adolescent routine, so when urbane newcomer David (Peter Sarsgaard) appears in town, Jenny senses a rare opportunity to shake things up a bit. Quickly falling
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Cast
-
Peter Sarsgaard
David -
Carey Mulligan
Jenny -
Alfred Molina
Jack -
Rosamund Pike
Helen -
Dominic Cooper
Danny -
Emma Thompson
Headmistress -
Olivia Williams
Miss Stubbs -
Sally Hawkins
Sarah -
Cara Seymour
Marjorie -
Matthew Beard
Graham -
William Melling
Small Boy -
Connor Catchpole
Small Boy -
Amanda Fairbank-Hynes
Hattie -
Ellie Kendrick
Tina -
Nick Sampson
Auctioneer -
Kate Duchene
Latin Teacher -
Bel Parker
Small Girl -
Luis Soto
Rachman -
Olenka Wrzesniewski
Shakespeare Girl -
Bryony Wadsworth
Shakespeare Girl -
Ashley Taylor-Rhys
Petrol Attendant -
James Norton
Student -
Beth Rowley
Nightclub Singer -
Ben Castle
Nightclub Band Member -
Mark Edwards
Nightclub Band Member -
Tom Rees-Roberts
Nightclub Band Member -
Arnie Somogyi
Nightclub Band Member -
Paul Wilkinson
Nightclub Band Member -
Phil Wilkinson
Nightclub Band Member
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An Education Trailer & Photos
All Critics (181) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (169) | Rotten (11) | DVD (7)
You may think you know where the film is going, but its ecstasy and heartbreak will stick with you afterward. It's one of the year's best.
Top CriticThe centerpiece of An Education is the breakout performance of young Carey Mulligan. She is enchanting, and almost convincing as the teenage Jenny, though she can't completely obscure the (justified) suspicion that she's in her twenties and old enough f
A beguiling little film that, with deceptive restraint and forthrightness, opens up worlds of roiling, contradictory emotions.
The movie belongs to Mulligan, whose Jenny looks like Audrey Hepburn when she puts her hair up and dons a black dress, and like every teenage girl who's had her heart broken when she cries.
An Education argues that life -- and the human heart -- are far too complicated merely to be studied. They need to be experienced.
An Education is just what the title promises, and a delight, as well.
An Education deserves high marks. You could argue that the central relationship ought to seem sleazier, but Danish director Lone Scherfig perfectly captures the era's look and mood, Hornby's Oscar-nominated script is deft and the performances are spot on
Nick Hornby's screenplay is funny and sweet and 1000 percent English in that catnip-to-American-audiences way he's so good at already.
The DVD of the Oscar nominated feature includes poignant interviews with the director and actress Carrey Mulligan, who became a star after this film.
Mulligan possesses Audrey Hepburn-like radiance, but the 22-year-old actress looks so young, it's hard to perceive David as anything but creepy.
You could do a lot worse than spend 100 minutes with Ms. Mulligan. Movie fans, I give you a woman worth educating yourself on.
Humility, that most educational of human qualities, is earned and wisdom is gained, making An Education not only an entertaining picture, but an enlightening one as well.
... attempts to impress audiences with its worldliness, but it comes off instead as an awkward, unformed teen fantasy run amok.
A star turn by Carey Mulligan playing a 16-year-old who gets charmed (and, uh, educated) by a suspiciously alluring older man, the excellent Peter Sarsgaard.
Trite, whitewashed, simplistic, and sexless.
An unusually nuanced and mature depiction of one of those hoary movie fantasies: the older man who gets the much, much younger woman.
Played with great wit and depth by the 24-year-old British actress Carey Mulligan.
Odds have it, as of this writing, that the Best Actress Oscar race will probably come down to Meryl Streep versus Sandra Bullock, but neither of them carries their respective movie quite as ably as Mulligan does here.
An Education showcases several fine performances in this story about the dangers of youthful cleverness.
It's not a perfect movie, but it is an enjoyable one.
Audience Reviews for An Education
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Headmistress: Nobody does anything worth doing without a degree.
- Helen: Nobody does anything worth doing with a degree. No woman, anyway.
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- David: I studied what they call the university of life. Didn't get a very good degree there.
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- Jenny: Action is character, our English teacher says. I think it means that if we never did anything, we wouldn't be anybody and I never did anything before I met you.
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- Jenny: I'm going to read what I want, and listen to what I want, and I'm going to look at paintings and watch French films, and I'm gonna talk to people who know lots about lots.
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- Jenny: If people die the moment that they graduate, then surely it's the things we do beforehand that count.
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- Miss Stubbs: You seem to be old and wise.
- Jenny: I feel old. But not very wise.
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Latest News on An Education
December 7, 2009:
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December 4, 2009:
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November 29, 2009:
Satellite Awards Nominees AnnouncedSignaling that the awards season is about to begin, the International Press Academy has announced...
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Foreign Titles
- Une éducation (FR)
- Una educación (ES)
