An Education
I can’t get completely on board with the screenplay nom for An Education — it’s speechy in spots, and occasionally feels as though it’s waiting for the jokes to land.
Carey Mulligan’s performance, however, is fantastic.The entire cast is very good, although Alfred Molina is rather broad, but Mulligan is head and shoulders amazing above that.She bears a strong resemblance to Katie Holmes, but is less passive as an actress; she seems less concerned with seeming to react than Holmes, and more concerned with the actual reaction.Nothing against Holmes, really, but some of her acting choices come off more like defaults — usually done well, but still defaults.
The movie overall is fairly minor; Mulligan is probably its best chance to medal, provided the Academy voters feel like they’ve done their duty to Precious elsewhere, but having not seen Precious yet, I can’t handicap that race.An Education is a worthwhile 90 minutes on its own merits, though.
Death Race 48, Sarah 10
Tags: Alfred Molina Carey Mulligan Katie Holmes movies Oscars 2010 Death Race
Mulligan gets my interest in whatever she does just for having participated in the scary/awesome “Blink” episode of “Doctor Who”. She was really, really good in that; if she did even better in An Education, I’d watch.
Hell yeah, Jaybird! In my opinion, Blink is a bigger accomplishment as a finished piece of work than An Education. But Carey is excellent in both and also lovely as one of the younger sisters in Pride and Prejudice (in which her current co-star, Rosamund Pike, played Jane- love them both).
I found An Education less than enthralling and thought maybe if I had been 18 and watching it, it might have meant more to me. But instead gigantic warning bells sounded every time Sarsgaard was on screen, and I could hear the script trying to make me feel things that it just wasn’t earning. But it’s all worth it if it gets Carey some quality projects in the future- she’s young and fresh and yet doesn’t seem fragile, and that’s really refreshing in an actress her age.
How I wish I lived in a world where Carey Mulligan and Gabby Sidibe were the presumptive front-runners for the Best Actress Oscars. After An Education debuted at Sundance last January, Mulligan immediately became a heavy contender in the race. Through October, must prognosticators had it between her and Meryl Streep (for Julie and Julia), your typical ingenue vs. veteran showdown. And then The Blind Side happened. Sandra Bullock now appears to have it in the bag, with Streep lingering as a possible threat. It hurts my heart.
I actually really loved An Education, and yes, I was first charmed by Mulligan on Doctor Who (it’s so nice to see so many Who fans!), the essay the book was based on is quite good as well.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/07/lynn-barber-virginity-relationships
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Rosamund Pike in this. I guess my suprise is how far she took the joke that was her character; I am accustomed to pretty ingenues being more cautious.
I did not realize Emma Thompson was in it until her name came up in the opening credits. I believe I squeaked with delight. Always value added, that.
Mulligan’s work is well-praised above, so I don’t need to pile on. What I will say about her is that in just a few short years, she’s completely defined a kind of role. In fact, in the recent BBC Cranford, I was surprised to see The Carey Mulligan role go to another actress (Kimberly Nixon, who did her best to Mulligan it up, but sadly: no Mulligan.).
Can I also pipe up about how much I love that she’s doing the snazzy short hair now? I love it whenever a young actress breaks with the Ingenue Uniform.
Mulligan as Ada Clare in Bleak House for the Beeb could soften the stoniest of hearts.
@attica: I worry a little bit that Pike’s work (especially her drop-dead timing) isn’t getting quite the attention it deserves. So I’m glad that you mention her. In conclusion: Em! Awesome. And Olivia Williams. LOVE her.
So there’s an argument, which David Edelstein is now championing, that this is an anti-Semitic movie. I haven’t seen it (though I have read the essay it was based on). I did look at the essay Edelstein linked to, and it seemed specific enough to British anti-Semitism that I wasn’t quite sure I had enough context to judge. (Everything I know about British anti-Semitism I learned from Philip Roth’s The Counterlife, which is not a reliable source.) One question — Lynn Barber specifies that her parents were first-generation immigrants; is that true in the movie, or are they buttoned-up British, etc? Because I could see how that would heighten the contrast between the “good” family and the Jewish interloper.
@Natalie – Thank you for posting the link. I had no idea it was based on a true story. I enjoyed reading it.
I read the article by Lynn Barber, and it seemed like she meant that they were recent immigrants to the middle class, not to England.
As to the anti-Semitism, Barber’s story itself put me in mind of Wharton’s portrayal of Simon Rosedale in “The House of Mirth.” I think this was the accepted attitude at the time, but it’s still ick. The movie didn’t strike me as anti-Semitic, but then, Edelstein and I differ on a lot of things. Like whether he should have written that “Snark” book.
I didn’t feel the movie was anti-Semetic, but there are certainly anti-Semetic attitudes expressed within it, both openly and covertly. I would probably see it differently if I were Jewish, since
(POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT)
Simon’s way of life–hustling, stealing and lying, could be construed as “stereotyping” him within his faith (although there’s no indication that he is at all religously inclined) and Mulligan’s and her parent’s entrancement of his “exotic” lifestyle could be seen that way as well. But frankly, that seems like reaching to me.
I enjoyed Mulligan’s two speeches, because to me they performed multiple functions: A) They underlined both her precociousness and intelligence while simultaneously highlighting her youth and inexperience, B) helped display the grinding greyness and conformity that England retreated into after the war, and how restricting it was to a bright, ambitious girl, and C) made some really good points about how if you want someone to fulfill her promise, you’d better make damn sure there’s something worth it waiting at the end!
I always have a hard time watching movies where characters make blatantly bad decisions (I always end up yelling at the screen, much to the irritation of my poor boyfriend), but I enjoyed the movie nonetheless. After the nominations came out, I went around telling people that Sally Sparrow had been nominated for an Oscar. Good luck to her.
“Sally Shipton–Sparrow!!”
Wow, Tomato Nation synchronicity, I’m about 20 pages from the end of House of Mirth!
My take on the anti-Semitism was that it probably would have bothered me if this were a work of fiction, but since the man involved really was jewish it bugged me less. Also, the first time it comes up there’s a discussion of whether or not she has a problem with him being jewish, so for me that made it less icky.
Sars! No! Edelstein did not write the snark book! Denby, the boring and overemployed ant beneath your magnifying glass of good writing, wrote the snark book!
@Jessica: Oh dear, I’ve been accusing Edelstein of that for several weeks now. Sorry, Edelstein!
(Shut up, Denby!)
Considering that the script was written by Nick Hornby, one of my favorite authors, I have to say that the storyline was lacking. Far too much of it felt contrived and unbelievable. I don’t care if people actually were more naive in 1961 than they are today, but most of what Sarsgaard’s character got away with when it came to Jenny? I just couldn’t buy it.
This film does not deserve its Best Picture nomination, but Carey Mulligan most certainly deserves her nomination for Best Actress. I mean, holy shit, this was a fantastic character, and she sold the hell out of it in her monologues, as did Alfred Molina, who, while a bit broad in some of his scenes, absolutely nailed the one in the hallway where he recalls the radio broadcast about C.S. Lewis. If nothing else, he really owned that one.
@Drew,
Oh, that scene! When she realizes that while her parents have let her down she’s let them down too, while AM’s sorrowful, forgiving voice tells her that there’s some tea and biscuits outside her door. Sob!
I’ve been massively crushing on Carey Mulligan for years. Everything she does is gold (though my biggest soft spot is that Doctor Who episode she did. SO GOOD.) and I’m so happy that she’s finally in the big leagues. I just hope she stays there.
Katie Holmes, though? Really? I always thought she looked like a prettier Michelle Williams. Not that Michelle Williams is ugly, per se, Mulligan just lacks the duckface quality.
“… most of what Sarsgaard’s character got away with when it came to Jenny? I just couldn’t buy it.”
I can see how you might think the scenario far-fetched, and I know that I’m repeating earlier comments, BUT …
The movie is based on a memoir of the same name, by British journalist Lynn Barber, and apparently her parents really were that clueless — at least according to this article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/07/lynn-barber-virginity-relationships