Here's a Lesson: Don't Hang Out With Pervs, Stupid.

To make things clear, I didn't hate this movie. The title makes it seems like I did, but I really didn't. In all actuality, it was pretty average. Girl has a promising future, girl meets older guy, and...stuff happens (tryin' not to get too spoilery on you guys!). 'An Education' was nominated for Best Picture, and I have to say that I really think the only reason that happened is because of the performances and the way the movie looked, because really, there's nothing spectacular about the story.

So, this chick (Carrie Mulligan) is supposed to be a genius. She's 16 years old, she's at the top of her class, and she talks like she's 40 years old. Along comes moderately handsome older man, Peter Saarsgard. Apparently, Genius doesn't know that a) you shouldn't talk to strangers, and b) any guy interested in a 16 year old who's older than 16's gotta be pretty messed up. I'll let her get away with it I guess because it was the 60's, a.k.a., BMGTCD (Before McGruff the Crime Dog). So how could she have known?

The basic idea is that although Jenny is super smart and can randomly speak French in the middle of a conversation, she has no education when it comes to the real world. It's a premise that's been done before...actually, it's been done a million times before, but the performances make it feel new. Carrie Mulligan is great, Sarsgaard plays his part well, and man, you gotta love Alfred Molina in anything he's in (and yes, my dad did walk by the screen at some point and yell, "Hey, it's Doc Oc!"). I liked the other focus of the movie, too, in which Jenny mused the importance of college (which I have mused myself, my friends).

Really, 'An Education' is good. The only thing I really have a problem with, along with a lot of other viewers, is the need to express, over and over, that Sarsgaard's character (David) is Jewish. He's a Jew! It's irrelevant, yet it's something that's continually brought up. And David's not a good guy. He steals, along with the whole 'dating 16 year olds' thing. And Emma Thompson even gets a whole monologue about why Jenny should stop seeing David, which, for some reason, his Jew-ness is emphasized. "You know, it was the Jews who killed our Lord." Excuse me? Why is this relevant? Of course, Jenny defends David, but the movie doesn't, and it shouldn't- he's a horrible guy. But the movie never defends Jews. It never points out that David sucked because of his character and not because he was Jewish. Which is actually pretty shocking.

3.5/5 stars