An Education (2009)

This is an interesting little gem of a film.
Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) is a good student, though she has struggles with Latin. She has dreams to go to Oxford and that is what her parents, Jack and Marjorie (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) want for her also.
And then she meets David (Peter Sarsgaard) who is older and more sophisticated. He is able to take her to Paris, somewhere she always wanted to go. He is a smooth talker as his occupation isn't the most legal. Actually, it is completely illegal. David and his friend, Danny (Dominic Cooper) steal hidden artwork from unsuspecting people. It gives them a cushy lifestyle and Jenny benefits.
Yes, she is furious, livid, in fact, when she finds out the truth and David doesn't truly defend his actions. He merely tells her that she can return to her life as a schoolgirl, but she doesn't want that. In fact, she even accepts his proposal. Shockingly, her parents are okay with that, they just want her to be taken care of and now that will certainly happen. She drops out of school and then discovers the devastating truth, in David's glove compartment. David is married. It seems very Jane Eyre-esque. That is without a doubt, by design. There are several references to Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester throughout the film as Jenny is studying that book in school.
Naturally, Jenny is livid and her father is beyond mad also. David doesn't even have the guts to tell her parents, leaving Jenny to face them alone. She even goes back and apologizes to her headmistress at school, Miss Walton (Emma Thompson) literally groveling for the opportunity to repeat her last year and take her exams again. Miss Walton isn't a forgiven person. Jenny does recruit one of her teachers, Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) who urged her not to give up Oxford regardless of getting married or not. Jenny does get into Oxford though she feels older and wiser than all the other students attending.
I'm just glad that Jenny didn't get pregnant. She does confront David's wife (Sally Hawkins) and this isn't the first time one of his mistresses have come to the house. At this one isn't in the family way, as that has happened before.
Sure, this plot has probably been done before, but the performances are very good, with Mulligan more than earning her Oscar nomination, Molina and Williams being stand outs. The scenery and costumes are also breathtaking.
However, her father's immediate support of the marriage came to me as a surprise and was upsetting just as it was for the character of Jenny. I don't really have a problem with the film, and there aren't any flaws, though Jenny's cello does get pushed aside once she and David start truly dating which is upsetting as it is how they met. However, I don't know if I'll watch this film again any time soon. Grade: A-