Can a pretty, almost-17 British school girl find happiness with a 30-something playboy who gives her a lift on a rainy day in 1960's London? That in a nutshell is the storyline of "An Education". Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a serious university-bound student until she meets David (Peter Sarsgaard), who whirlwinds his way into her life, convincing her overly protective parents (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) that he's a really good guy with honorable intentions.

Sarsgaard has that certain look and style that always hints at something not quite right lurking beneath his noble exterior. When he offers Jenny a ride, and an escape from the elements, we revert to a basic tenet of growing up, that is, don't get into a car with a stranger. But this is the 1960's, and things were somewhat different then. David quickly charms Jenny by offering to keep her cello dry while she walks alongside his expensive auto.

Jenny is more mature and adventurous than her giggly schoolmates, so soon she is sitting beside David. As her time with him develops into a relationship, despite their age difference, it has real credibility, proven by how she interacts with David's contemporaries, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). Eventually things begin to unravel and Mulligan's exceptional performance takes off.

Jenny is the obvious recipient of the learning experience in the film's title, but as the movie progresses, there are other characters who acquire "an education". I love Molina in practically every role he's undertaken, and as Jack, the waffling father of Jenny, he nearly steals the show. He is the iron-fisted patriarch who won't let his daughter out of the house --- until he is charmed by David to the point where he gives his blessing for their weekend getaway to Oxford to meet the famous author, C.S. Lewis.

Jenny's teacher Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) is another character who learns something --- that life is more than just classrooms and textbooks. Although an unmarried school teacher, Miss Stubbs realizes from her much younger student that she has much to offer in her chosen profession.

Sarsgaard plays the role of David to perfection. He is smooth and just a bit smarmy, enough to raise a red flag --- if not for Jenny, then certainly for the audience. Our suspicions are confirmed when it's revealed how David makes a living, and thus begins the denouement of this well-written, and especially well-acted story. "An Education", directed by female Danish filmmaker, Lone Scherfig, captured the Audience Award at this year's Sundance Festival.

Opinion: See It Now!