An Education

[Amnesiac]

...

[number8]

Nitpick: using "the shit" in a positive light doesn't really work when you insert an adjective in between.

[B-side]

No thanks.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Ew. Hope it's better than that trailer suggests.

[Boner M]

Ew. Hope it's better than that trailer suggests.
It is, but only slightly.

[Pop Trash]

Some good eye candy. I'll probably see it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

It is, but only slightly.

I'll pass.

[Amnesiac]

I don't really understand why one would become so vehemently opposed to the film based solely on that trailer. Personally, I think it looks good, but perhaps my opinion/faith is slightly bolstered by all the raving over Mulligan's performance. I liked what I saw of her character in the trailer, too.

[trotchky]

I don't know about this movie.

[Mara]

Just read a salivating review of this film. Has anyone else seen it?

[Lasse]

I'm very interested in this one since it's directed by a Dane, but as far as I know it's not been show here yet. The word of mouth is incredible, though.

[number8]

What tickles me is that US press is angling on the film as some kind of taboo and a movie about a sexual predator, because it's a relationship between an older man and a 16 year old girl.

But in England, 16 is the age of consent. So nothing about this movie is legally inappropriate, and I don't believe the movie is even about that at all.

[Boner M]

Jesus, this has 85 on metacritic?! Most overrated film of the year, hands down.

[Ezee E]

What tickles me is that US press is angling on the film as some kind of taboo and a movie about a sexual predator, because it's a relationship between an older man and a 16 year old girl.

But in England, 16 is the age of consent. So nothing about this movie is legally inappropriate, and I don't believe the movie is even about that at all.
Yeah. The idea of it being wrong isn't even discussed if I remember.

As for its high reviews, I think it's only been in film festivals, and with the arrival of Carey Mulligan, and itself being a different tone than most film festival movies, I can see why it's highly rated.

[Ezee E]

Did you like it?
It's alright. Good acting, and I dig the period it takes place in, but it's a pretty simple, eh story.

[number8]

Great first act, mediocre second act, terrible third act.

Molina's fantastic, and it's always nice to see Olivia Williams, even if I already have a weekly fix of her.

[Boner M]

Great first act, mediocre second act, terrible third act.
Indeed. Keith Uhlich's brief review (http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/film/79326/an-education-film-review) sums up my thoughts to a tee.

[Ezee E]

Great first act, mediocre second act, terrible third act.

Molina's fantastic, and it's always nice to see Olivia Williams, even if I already have a weekly fix of her.
Essentially this is the perfect capsule review if no word about Mulligan is included.

[Mara]

Hmmm. Sounds like a Netflix to me. I will see it, though.

[Boner M]

Saw this again against my will tonight, and its flaws are more glaring the second time around once it's easier to see past the charm of Carey Mulligan & co. Thanks, Nick Hornby & Lynn Barber; for the reminder that there's absolutely no substitute for formal education, and that young girls shouldn't trust older dudes, no matter how nice they seem at first.

[NickGlass]

Saw this again against my will tonight, and its flaws are more glaring the second time around once it's easier to see past the charm of Carey Mulligan & co. Thanks, Nick Hornby & Lynn Barber; for the reminder that there's absolutely no substitute for formal education, and that young girls shouldn't trust older dudes, no matter how nice they seem at first.

I thought the flaws were quite apparent the first time around--and I still cannot even begin to justify the film's conclusion.

I understand that the characters are driven by their naivete, but did they need they be so completely, implausibly ignorant. Everything about the narrative is so convenient, it's difficult to see who's learning a lesson here. When the film ultimately slaps you in the face with forced "new learned philosophies," it directly contradicts what its been blowing so much hot air over, mostly in highly orchestrated SPEECHES. The composers must be disappointed that their maudlin music was for naught. Whereas Jenny was meant to evolve from jejune to highly-aware by the end, the film itself goes in the opposite direction.

Yes, when the dialogue isn't on-the-nose, the acting can be delightful. The charming little details the actors infuse their thinly sketched characters with, however, are significantly overshadowed by the triteness that surrounds them. Hornby and Sherfig should be taught that a bit of patience and complexity would have let the film breathe, at least.

I don't even mean to play with words, but it's shocking how much I wanted to play father and tell the film "you're pretty and clever, so why are you wasting your life on such typical tropes?"


Molina's fantastic, and it's always nice to see Olivia Williams, even if I already have a weekly fix of her.

Molina plays the blowhard father well, to the highest capacity that one dimension will allow him. I adore Olivia Williams but she is, undoubtedly, given the most thankless role in the film.

Whatever. I can't wait for Thanksgiving, when my aunts and uncles praise this and I have to respond with "Yes, I saw it, and no, I did not like. Let's move on with the turkey and cranberry sauce, shall we?" I'm sure grandma will love it, too.

[number8]

Saw this again against my will tonight, and its flaws are more glaring the second time around once it's easier to see past the charm of Carey Mulligan & co. Thanks, Nick Hornby & Lynn Barber; for the reminder that there's absolutely no substitute for formal education, and that young girls shouldn't trust older dudes, no matter how nice they seem at first.

Wait, how long have you had that Sparrow avatar? I just noticed it.

[number8]

Everybody should know that anybody who actually says "I went to the University of Life" is not to be trusted.

[Grouchy]

Everybody should know that anybody who actually says "I went to the University of Life" is not to be trusted.
I learned that from Garth Ennis.

[Sycophant]

Everybody should know that anybody who actually says "I went to the University of Life" is not to be trusted.

This is good shit.

[baby doll]

Jesus, this has 85 on metacritic?! Most overrated film of the year, hands down.Word. It's decently engaging, but very slight. Also, is it me or has Emma Thompson not had a good part in anything since Remains of the Day?

[Mara]

Also, is it me or has Emma Thompson not had a good part in anything since Remains of the Day?

That statement is insane.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Saw this film a few weeks ago, and despite the cast it is so eh. Some of it is downright silly, like the last half hour. The sudden narration was terrible especially, moments before it popped up, I expected during the "And I studied and studied and studied!" montage that some cheesy shit would pop up, and then it did... moments later. Ugh.

[Sxottlan]

So I'm getting the impression that this film is hitting a wall, at least around here if not in theatres. There hasn't been much of a furor over it and it actually left one of two theatres here yesterday.

I haven't seen it and I find I can't get very interested in a film when all the hype is just about one performance.

[Adam]

Yep, this totally does get lame and cheat in its final act, but I'd still say I'm probably the film's biggest fan out of all you jokers. Reminded me of Juno in its underrated perceptiveness of a very particular type of adolescent intelligence and, like in Juno, the naive seventeen year old female lead winds up getting a hard, cold cock slap of reality to the face. The performances are all game and even if some of them are too broad and silly, they still fit. It's just a very charming movie that endearingly feels like the sort of film a lot of people were making in the fifties. Not tremendously ambitious or anything, but it's more than enough for what it is

[baby doll]

and, like in Juno, the naive seventeen year old female lead winds up getting a hard, cold cock slap of reality to the face.Personally, I wanted to see her get slapped around a little harder--actually, a lot harder. Where's Lars von Trier when you need him?

[ledfloyd]

this film is maddeningly average. also, the message seems to be that culture is bad for you.

[Henry Gale]

Yeah... saw this a while ago. This is another movie that as it went along, I wondered why the reception towards it (at least around these parts) was so cold, but by the end completely understood. I love Mulligan and Molina in this, as well as the film's first act or so, but by the end it's just so bleh. It just comes across completely as something written now about a time when certain ironies about society and class wouldn't necessarily play the same way. Also, it just feels too brief, Saarsgard is uncharacteristically ineffective, maybe not as a fault to him, but the story, and the ending left me really, really annoyed simply because of how it makes such a major point of struggle for the character so breezy and in the end, entirely unfufilling to watch.

I won't be mad at acting or technical recognition (costumes, art direction, etc.) for the movie, but it's just sad to think that this may get a Best Picture nomination when this has been a year where, in my opinion, so many other things deserve it instead.

[Grouchy]

this film is maddeningly average. also, the message seems to be that culture is bad for you.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the film, but beats me how you can infer that from it.

Pretty much agree with number8 here. All the major flaws are in the final act. Why the hell make such a point about the girl's mistake when everything is solved so quickly in a montage? I would have been more happy with an ending that didn't leave me so reassured that the girl has completely composed her life. Since this is based on a real-life memoir, I'd be interested in knowing how the story went. Other than that, the movie is unremarkable but well-made. Every actor in it is good.

[Arthur Seaton]

Personally, I wanted to see her get slapped around a little harder--actually, a lot harder. Where's Lars von Trier when you need him?

That's not even funny, jerk. F*** you.

[number8]

That's not even funny, jerk. F*** you.

Er, might want to read the context a little closer.

[NickGlass]

I wasn't the biggest fan of the film, but beats me how you can infer that from it.

Whenever it becomes known that I despise this film, I simply ask one question to the incredulous person who enjoyed it: what the hell is the message of the film? Really, please define.

I still have not received an answer that's plausible and not convoluted--and the only satisfying answers have been anecdotes/personal principles about the person who is answering and not about Jenny or the actual movie.

[balmakboor]

Whenever it becomes known that I despise this film, I simply ask one question to the incredulous person who enjoyed it: what the hell is the message of the film? Really, please define.

I still have not received an answer that's plausible and not convoluted--and the only satisfying answers have been anecdotes/personal principles about the person who is answering and not about Jenny or the actual movie.

I'm waiting until around March 30 to see it.

I have to ask though, is it really an important indicator of quality that one be able to state a film's message in some succinct manner, as you suggest? I've seen lots of films that I've loved where I'd be hard-pressed to state its message (if it even had one) in such few words.

[Arthur Seaton]

Er, might want to read the context a little closer.
no

[NickGlass]

I have to ask though, is it really an important indicator of quality that one be able to state a film's message in some succinct manner, as you suggest? I've seen lots of films that I've loved where I'd be hard-pressed to state its message (if it even had one) in such few words.

I'm just applying it to this film in particular since it ultimately tries to be such a Message Movie™, and it's at once completely obvious in its mechanical Life Philosophies and also horribly confused.

[Adam]

Jeez, isn't this just a rather clear-cut look at a 16 year old who thinks she knows everything only to get in way over head and find/accept that she doesn't? Still not sure why people are so offended by this. It takes an all-too-tidy turn in its third act, fine. But it's not anti-semitic or anything silly like that and it's certainly not aspiring to say anything especially profound. babydoll got it right - charming, but slight. Mulligan's great, anyway

[Spinal]

Apart from the discovery of a capable, charismatic young actress, this was utterly inconsequential. I doubt if I will remember a thing about it in a year.

[Derek]

Apart from the discovery of a capable, charismatic young actress, this was utterly inconsequential. I doubt if I will remember a thing about it in a year.

Hopefully she has a different agent than Peter Sarsgaard because jesus, as much as I like the guy as an actor, he's rarely in anything that surpasses mediocrity. When Shattered Glass is the best film you're in in over a decade, you need to seek new representation.

[EyesWideOpen]

Hopefully she has a different agent than Peter Sarsgaard because jesus, as much as I like the guy as an actor, he's rarely in anything that surpasses mediocrity. When Shattered Glass is the best film you're in in over a decade, you need to seek new representation.

Jarhead, Kinsey, and Garden State are all very good movies and all three better then Shattered Glass.

[Derek]

Jarhead, Kinsey, and Garden State are all very good movies and all three better then Shattered Glass.

No, no they're not. Jarhead at least has some admirable qualities, but Kinsey is dull as dirt and shallowly condescending and Garden State is...well, really, it's not necessary to go into the various reasons it blows when a screen shot will scream it awfulness for me:

http://thecorner.typepad.com/bc/images/zach_braff3.jpg

*shivers*

[transmogrifier]

Jarhead > Shattered Glass >>Kinsey >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Garden State

[Ezee E]

Isn't he the villain in an upcoming superhero movie?

[Spinal]

Personally, I wanted to see her get slapped around a little harder--actually, a lot harder. Where's Lars von Trier when you need him?

Dead on right. The films biggest problem is that the highs are not high enough and the lows are not low enough.

I do love the moment though where the blond asks her why she's speaking French. :lol:

[Grouchy]

I do love the moment though where the blond asks her why she's speaking French. :lol:
I fully agreed with the blonde in that moment. Quit showing off, you tiny little whore.

[Yxklyx]

Isn't he the villain in an upcoming superhero movie?

To be directed by Mr. Mediocre himself, Martin Campbell.

Yeah, why doesn't Peter Sarsgaard get better roles? He was very impressive in Shattered Glass.

[eternity]

An Education is completely one-dimensional in its perception of adolescent intelligence. "Oh, you're smart, but you're also really fucking stupid." Not an ounce of nuance to it, or anything else in the movie.

[Spaceman Spiff]

So how bad is Garden State? I still haven't seen it.

[Sycophant]

So how bad is Garden State? I still haven't seen it.

An objectively one-and-a-quarter-star film.

[baby doll]

So how bad is Garden State? I still haven't seen it.Better than mediocre.