Bunched Undies:

Under normal circumstances, I would review this film, but because NetfIix decided to remove friend features, I am no longer going to give them free content. Since NetfIix seems to place no value on its most active members, I'm no longer going to be an active member. The new design that they have implemented for movie detail pages removed friends' ratings, top 10 lists and the ability to send movie notes. If NetfIix decides to reverse its stance on this issue, I'll start writing reviews again. Until then, I've decided to move my reviews elsewhere. If you are reading this, please call NetfIix and ask them to give us community features back. I apologize for this non-review.

Southern Belle 1:

AN EDUCATION is a romantic drama set in the 1960's in London. It's about the dilemma of education vs. life. A 17-year-old student is given the opportunity to experience "life" outside of her mother, father, and school environment. And the persuasion is so adept that even the mother and father are seduced. The older man, David, is played exquisitely by Peter Sarsgaard. His character is multi-faceted, but he plays each level with ease. He actually seduced me! The girl who is "coming of age" is Jenny, played by Carey Mulligan, who was actually 24-years-old when this was filmed, but you'd never know it. Jenny has been groomed to seek higher education (Oxford) until she meets David by chance on a rainy afternoon. Jenny elects to pursue an adventure with David (traveling to Paris with him, for one thing) in hopes of securing a life of luxury and intrigue - taking a short cut, if you will, to future success - and she gambles on it paying off in the end. There's nothing wrong with this film, except it drags. It falls a bit flat because the premise is a little too far-fetched and there's no real excitement or sexual tension. The older man/younger woman, in this case, were boring, and the relationship didn't work for me. Nominated for Best Picture at the 2009 Academy Awards, use the subtitles to catch every word. 04-06-10

Fies:

Fun and funny, brimming with life. The first two acts are delightfully languorous, like swirling a full bodied wine on your tongue. The third act disappoints as it sprints to a tone-deaf ending with an out of place voice over. Something clearly went wrong. Director Scherfig would have been better off reshooting than cobbling the end together with ugly Frankenstein stitches, but perhaps the studio is to blame...Either way, An Education is still worth renting. The Paris scene alone makes it sublime. Wonderful acting by Carey and Dominic. Peter flubs the accent, but still retains a wink wink demeanor that suits the film's setting.

Rascal:

An Education was nominated as the Best Picture Of The Year by the Academy Awards in 2009. This just further proves that the Academy only nominates movies released in the Fall of each year and they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find ten best pictures. Are we expected to believe that the father has spent all these years raising, encouraging and even pushing his daughter to excel in school in order to be accepted at Oxford and in the matter of a few weeks completely changes his attitude and encourages the just turned 17 year old to marry the sleazy con man pedophile. Perhaps Carey Mulligan deserved her nomination but please do not rent this film because of the awards Do not rent this picture because it cast Emma Thompson. She only had two brief scenes behind a desk. This is not a comedy or a romantic drama. It is a very uncomfortable film that caves in at the end and sends the wrong messages with the usual happy ending. 3-31-2010

1d56bcdd85:

This is a bit of a let down for me because I was so looking forward to watch this latest work of Lone Scherfig. I am not saying it is not worth the watch, but it is not as good as I thought it would be. The acting and script are good, but the whole story itself is only okay. At times I wondered they the characters were so gullible.

tjz 224257:

This film is very well done, with fine acting direction and script. That said, I was not impressed with the story-line. It's just too ordinary and hum-drum. We've all made mistakes that threatened to side track our lives and most of us,sooner or later corrected ourselves and got back on course. So what so special about Jenny?

lastliberal:

The film garnered a whole basket full of nominations, including three Oscar nominations. The majority of wins on the awards circuit went to lead actress Carey Mulligan, who played Jenny, a teen who was coming of age and breaking with her fathers (Alfred Molina) idea of what she should do with her life. She picked up Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Oscar nominations, along with a BAFTA award. It is difficult to comprehend that Jack (Molina) would let his 16-year-old daughter go with a man twice her age, let alone for a weekend. But, David (Peter Sarsgaard) was a smooth talker. This was an excellent film about growing up and the dangers that lie about. At least Jenny was able to recover.

moviesorfilm:

Fantastic "coming of age" story about a young, intelligent girl (Mulligan) who falls for a handsome charming older man (Sarsgaard) in the early '60's England. Bored, dreaming of an exciting future of literature, art, travel the charming rich man seems just the answer for her. Unfortunately, there are too many secrets as Jenny tries to decide her future. Mulligan is fantastic as Jenny--beautiful, naive and trusting--her performance was definitely worth the Oscar nomination she received. Sarsgaard as David, is charming, sexy and so alluring with lots of secrets--perfect fodder for a bored young teen. I would have liked to have seen more of Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson as they were so good in their smaller roles. I was skeptical about this story, thinking that I had seen the like before but this was very refreshing and creative. Definitely very highly recommended!

Frank W:

Remember the name Carey Mulligan... It'll surely come up later. She has the squeaky clean freshness of spring water and sunshine yet in An Education, she delivers a mature, multi-layered performance many veteran actors spend a career searching for. Her Jenny is mature and self-assured... but believably unprincipled. We see Jenny blossom from a giggly, plaid-skirted schoolgirl into an elegantly clad Holly Golightly, right before our eyes.

BlueVoid:

[3.5 stars]'An Education' is a smart, brisk and poignant coming of age story. It is refreshing to see a simple concept executed so well, as so many times the story gets swallowed up by melodrama in similar movies. Taking place in London in the 1960s, a school girl is faced with the choice of either continuing to pursue her dream of going to Oxford, or abandoning it for a free and fun filled life with an older man. It wonderfully captures the ignorance of youth without being condescending to its character.

WideStance:

Solid little film about a whip-smart yet very vulnerable 16-year-old girl named Jenny (Carey Mulligan) who falls for a 35-year-old wolf (Peter Sarsgaard) she meets on the street one day. Sarsgaard plays a terrific mix of icky and cosmopolitan but Mulligan is the showstopper as the overachieving student who's academic career, and entire future, come to a screeching halt as she faces the life-defining decision of getting married or continuing her education. In pre women's lib London, you did one or the other, not both. The supporting ensemble cast including Alfred Molina, Emma Watson, and Olivia Williams (Miss Cross in Rushmore) are all spot-on and contribute enormously to the film's captivating magic. Unfortunately, the screenplay by Nick Hornsby (High Fidelity, About a Boy) seems in a bit of a rush to the cross the finish line and the third act where Jenny faces some impossibly hard situations after stepping into the complicated world of adulthood seems to breeze by a tad superficially.

beeswax:

Under normal circumstances I might have reviewed this DVD, but when NetfIix implemented the new DVD page design they removed friends' ratings, top 10 lists and the ability to send movie notes. That made it harder for me and others to find movies we'd like to see. If you are reading this, please call NetfIix at 1-866-716-0414 and ask them to give us the community features back. Thank you, and I apologize for this non-review.