An Education (2009) - Rating: 3.5/5

Immediate notes and thoughts:

An Easter Sunday, family dinner movie, following a rather (surprisingly) amusing episode of Have I Got News for You (on BBC iPlayer).

Screenplay written by Nick Horny (High Fidelity, About a Boy). Recognise some familiar caricatures and stereotypes, as well as the characteristic monologues to the audience (kept to a noticeable minimum).

Quite engaging from the start to the middle. Lulls mid-way, descends into something quite cheesy, ending anti-climactically. Perhaps deliberately unsatisfying?...

Not sure if I like it... Whether it expresses: real life is actually quite boring, conventional, but ultimately more rewarding than the fantastical alternative, and that's the beauty of the movie; or it's just a neat and convenient way to resolve a highly intriguing setup, which therefore diminishes and takes something away from the experience.

Reminds me of how I felt watching Crazy Heart: the central performances really make the movie.

I like how there was so much potential and temptation to dramatise vulgarity; but the Directorial prerogative veered far from that. Instead, focused on naivity and a loss of innocence. Emma Thompson was great in it, she always lends some sort of authority and gravitas to whatever she's in - probably the second most stand-out performance of the movie in the two scenes that she's given! I also like the period setting, which was seemingly perfect. Like the way other characters are held in contrast to Carey Mulligan's. Feel like everyone's a foil for her character, and we feel for her, understand and get to know her intimately.

The novelty of Duffy's screeching in the end credits wore off in the first few seconds, and probably the only thing about the movie - for all it's time and period setting - that was slightly misplaced... Something happy-Frenchie, or happy-Englishie of the time period might have worked more appropriately in my view.