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You can encapsulate the emotional stakes and the intelligence of "An Education" in a single exchange.
It's 1961. Our 16-going-on-17 heroine, Jenny (Carey Mulligan), is in the office of her school's headmistress (Emma Thompson) -- in trouble for her relationship with an older man.
"I suppose you think I'm a ruined woman," Jenny says, with a mixture of contrition and bemusement.
The headmistress shakes her head dismissively. "You're not a woman," she replies.
"An Education" is a brilliant adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir, elegantly written by novelist Nick Hornby and gently handled by director Lone Scherfig. This movie is as well-crafted as a Swiss watch and as jolting as a fire alarm.
Jenny is an eager student, driven by herself and her status-seeking father (Alfred Molina) to get into Oxford. So it's out of the ordinary when a gentleman in his 30s, one David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard), befriends her. After disarming Dad and Mum (Cara Seymour) with his charm, David takes Jenny for a night on the town -- a classical-music concert, followed by dinner at a jazz club with David's friends Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike) -- that she later calls "the best night of my life."
The outings become more frequent and more distant -- first Oxford, then Paris -- and the attraction between Jenny and David grows. Soon, Jenny starts to question whether an academic life is worth the pursuit, especially when she comes to consider it a road to a stifling existence for a woman, either as a bored housewife like Mum or a spinster like her favorite teacher, Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams). Then come some shattering truths about David.
Hornby, an author famous for funny and touching modern romances ( High Fidelity , About a Boy , Fever Pitch ), brings to his first screenplay a novelist's gift for creating complex characters with a few telling details and some well-honed dialogue. He's well matched by Danish director Lone Scherfig ("Italian for Beginners," "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself"), who captures the thrill of Jenny's romantic adventure and the teen heartbreak when reality crashes into the fantasy.
"An Education" belongs, first and foremost, to Mulligan. The 23-year-old actress has a few credits to her name (as one of the Bennet sisters in the 2005 version of "Pride & Prejudice," and a notable turn on "Doctor Who"), but this movie -- acclaimed at Sundance and Toronto -- has announced her arrival.
Mulligan perfectly balances on the line of girlhood and womanhood, shifting naturally from schoolgirl innocence to Audrey Hepburn-like sophistication just by putting up her hair. She may play the student in "An Education," but her assured performance puts her at the head of the class.
A teen grows up in a hurry in this well-written and precisely conceived drama.
Where » Broadway Centre Cinemas.
When » Opens Friday.
Rating » PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking.
Running time » 95 minutes.
