The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

As tends to happen, when trolling for a movie to rent, Essner pulled a movie that I had never heard of, but that friends of his had. It was called An Education, and was described to me as a “female Rushmore.” I don’t really think that description is very accurate at all, but it is a very entertaining and enjoyable movie.

Taking place in the past, a high school girl catches the eye of an older gentleman, who gives her all kinds of fantastic things and helps her to “live” life, instead of just being bored through it. He takes her to all kinds of exciting places, they drink fancy alcohols and smoke fancy cigarettes, they generally have a grand old time. Then a fairly predictable twist happens.

The characterization in this film is actually really good. You really feel like you understand the main character as she’s swept off her feet. She’s not an idiot, not by a longshot, but she sees an escape and decides that her life is annoying enough to take it. She’s out to enjoy every second of it, and it works. Similarly, the older boyfriend is also pretty believable. He’s awkward at times and completely suave at others. He’s generally creepy, as one would expect for an older man dating a 17-year-old, but not creepy enough that you completely write him off. Of most surprising are the characters of the parents, who start out seeming like stereotypes, but it soon becomes clear they’re much fuller characters than that. A speech by the dad near the end of the film is really touching, and really realistic, for example. It’s these characters that carry you through the narrative and make you enjoy it.

I also appreciated the fact that the movie didn’t hand the main character a happy ending on a silver platter. She fucks up in some ways, and the film makes her face up to that. Sure, she does get her happy ending, but we see her having to work hard for it there at the end. A lot of films would gloss over that. It’s really nice that An Education decided not to.

It’s not a perfect film. The same characterization that’s so good sometimes has moments of awkwardness, probably where the movie is sticking really strongly to the memoir on which it was based. The ending, especially, is going along so well, and then ends with a completely out-of-place and never before seen voice-over, which really kind of keeps the movie from ending with a bang. These issues don’t really stop it from being an enjoyable watch, though. It had me entertained the entire way through, and that’s good enough for me.