I haven't been able to bring myself to write about the movie An Education because I wanted to collect all of my thoughts and deliver a decent defense. The film, directed by Lone Scherfig, is about a teenage girl who meets an older man in 1960's England. It's receiving rave reviews across the board. If you go to Rotten Tomatoes, it's currently at a 94% (and will likely stop there).
I would just like to preface this post by saying I wanted to see this movie. I was dying to see this film.
However, as I was watching An Education last weekend, I realized in the middle of it that I didn't really like it. The movie needed a killer ending in order for me to appreciate it and that ending never came (as you will see in my points of reference below). Like any good school girl, I created a little outline after I went to see the film, pinpointing all of the things I questioned, specifically why this movie is getting Oscar buzz.
*Spoilers*
1. Conventional, cliche-ridden story and script. I know this film is based on a memoir, but because it's a memoir, I feel like this should be different from any story I've ever seen. On the contrary, I feel like this story is something I've seen so many times before. How many times do we need to see a young girl get clobbered by an older man? (Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants [yes, I know], Blue Car, Mystic Pizza, any 1980's made-for-television movie). This storyline has been done to death.
Plus, I was gravely disappointed with Nick Hornby's script (David to Jenny's mom: "You never told me you had a sister?"). I silently groaned when I heard this.
2. Romanticizes Statutory Rape. None of the scenes where Jenny and David are together appear romantic, more creepy than anything. She's 16, he's in his early 30's. Neither one of the parents are concerned about this??? Even though the age of consent in England is different than in the states, the whole situation still feels icky.
3. Bad film editing. In one scene, David and Danny (Dominic Cooper) are in the front seat of a car together. In the next scene as the car pulls up to a house, Jenny and David are in the front seat together.
4. The film takes no risks. The crux of the story revolves around Jenny waiting until her 17th birthday to lose her virginity to David. In one scene, he asks just to get a peek at her. She drops her top and you only see her shoulders. I feel like nudity probably would have been helpful in this scene (and I RARELY say this!) because it would have shown her vulnerability. And when the actual sex takes place, you only see the afterglow, with Jenny smoking out on a balcony and talking about it.
5. Terrible character development. I feel like I literally know nothing about Jenny other than she likes jazz and wants to get laid when she turns 17. Parents also have terrible development. Dad is all about Oxford, then switches opinion to being all about David once Jenny is engaged. Why? The only affecting performance to me is one from Sally Hawkins, as David's wife who lives around the corner from Jenny.
6. Carey Mulligan next Audrey Hepburn? Don't get me wrong -- Mulligan is adorable, but I wasn't floored. I didn't get an Audrey Hepburn vibe at all. If anything, I got a Keira Knightley vibe.
7. Should have focused more on the "Education" debate. At one point in the film, I assumed they would delve into this more. Mulligan has one really good scene where she speaks with fervor about why an education isn't necessarily vital. In the end, she goes back to school and goes against what she said. I feel like the film just ends with this idea and doesn't justify people who succeed and don't go to Oxford.
8. Lackluster ending. "What is this? The f-ing Gilmore Girls?" I said to myself in a crowded theatre. Jenny drops out of school to marry David, only to discover he's already married. When she decides to go back to school, the headmaster Emma Thompson does not accept her so Jenny goes to one of her teachers and asks for help. Then, there's a montage of her studying, and then she gets accepted into Oxford. Just not enough justification for dropping out of school. How did she get in? No explanation.
I have been called a movie snob many times over, but I just did not care for this film. And I had no misgivings going into it. I thought it would be great! Turns out, the one thing I really enjoyed was the music. I can usually nurture one or two suspension of disbeliefs in a movie (for example, Tom's precocious sister in 500 Days of Summer). But there were just too many to count in this one.
On a final note, I'm glad I took notes on this film because next week at this time, I will not remember anything about it.
Read and post comments |
Send to a friend
]]>