This is the kind of film that makes me the happiest as an avid moviegoer. Beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted, director Lone Scherfig has done an excellent job bringing alive Nick Hornby's screenplay onto the silver screen.

Based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, "An Education" tells the story of a 16-year-old girl, Jenny (Carey Mulligan), in the early 1960s as she picks her way through the minefields of adolescence and coming of age. She's a cellist in her school orchestra, but her primary focus is getting accepted into Oxford.

Following an after-school rehearsal, Jenny is walking home in the rain, when a man she doesn't know offers her a ride. David (Peter Sarsgaard) is suave, debonair and worldly. He also drives a very fancy sports car, all of which has an enormous effect on Jenny. When he invites her to a concert, and concocts an untruth to appease her unsuspecting parents, Marjorie (Cara Seymour) and Jack (Alfred Molina), Jenny is immediately smitten. She begins cutting school and taking weekends with David and his friends, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike).

There are so many exquisite aspects to this movie, but first and foremost, is the writing. Hornby has exacted a script that completely captures the tenor of the 60's. David's gentlemanliness and bon vivant swagger has everyone hooked. Even Jack and Marjorie can't resist his worldliness and thus allow their daughter to fall into his trap as easily as if they were handing over their luggage.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, in this cast is perfect. Mulligan most assuredly will receive some nomination for her outstanding portrayal. Under the tutelage of Helen, Jenny goes from schoolgirl to Audrey Hepburn look-alike. She's beguiling and bewitching --- all at the same time. And speaking of Helen, Pike gives an incredible performance. Every time she raises her lovely eyebrows and gives a sidelong glance, you know exactly what she's thinking --- which isn't much --- she simply wants to party and live the good life. She cannot fathom why Jenny wants to read books and attend university.

Sarsgaard is equally amazing, every subtle nuance a work of genius. I even really liked Cooper, with whom, up to now, I wasn't that enamored. The role of Jack was virtually made in heaven for Molina. It would be nigh impossible to imagine anyone else playing Jenny's father.

It's entirely understandable how this film won the Audience Award at Sundance, and came in second at the Chicago International Film Festival. It's a brilliant, small movie that deserves all of the kudos it will receive.

Opinion: Strong See It Now!