"An Education is a remarkable tale well versed in feminine desire, intelligence, and innocence."

You can hardly blame a girl for accepting the chance to be whisked away to be loved, adored, and admired. From Twilight to An Education, the spectrum of longing to be understood and appreciated runs the gamut, yet where Twilight focuses in on the mundane to be found in female nature, An Education is a remarkable tale well versed in feminine desire, intelligence, and innocence.

Sixteen-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) has had her life laid out for her with startling clarity by her parents (Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour). First, high grades and cello lessons at a prominent girl's school, and then on to Oxford. When the bright and beautiful Jenny has a chance meeting with the older, dashing David (Peter Sarsgaard) she soon finds herself immersed in an enticing world of lavish parties, countryside trips, and beautiful gifts. As Jenny attempts to navigate her way through this appealing situation, her parents prove useless as David easily charms them into accepting him; only her school teacher (Olivia Williams) and headmistress (Emma Thompson) give any pause to Jenny's plans. Will Jenny continue on her traditional path to success as she's always planned, or will the lure of wealth and fun prove stronger?

An Education is based on a memoir, and the screenplay was penned by Nick Hornby of High Fidelity fame, but Hornby fans will be let down as there's very little of Hornby in the film. The warm glow of Oscar buzz is already surrounding the film, and especially the lead actress, Carey Mulligan, who fills the role right up to the brim, absolutely inhabiting the strong-willed and impish Jenny as she seeks to find her place in a rapidly changing world. With Audrey Hepburn-like traits, Mulligan's easy grace and starlet features have destined her for success. The cast is small, allowing each in turn to shine, and as each member complements the rest so vividly, there's never a dull moment. Sarsgaard is effortlessly cool as the playful, romantic, and intensely seductive David, always catering to Jenny's whims and throwing open the doors to an entirely new world. Dominic Cooper is beguiling as David's best friend, an English man of leisure (think the old world glamour of Brideshead Revisited, but less silly), never without his beautiful arm candy in the form of Rosamund Pike, who fulfills her role as a dim-witted blonde believably, never veering into farce.

The film is beautiful; from the perfectly pitched drab apartment of Jenny's parents to the glowing costumes and far more lavish sets, the production design lands us squarely in early 1960s England and establishes a tone that is kept effortlessly throughout the film. Lone Scherfig as a Danish director has receded into the background, leaving us only with the film she has made, an exquisite exploration of a definite period and feeling. Much of art is obsessed with communicating a single idea through a piece, and An Education is no exception -- it's a loving portrait of the pain and joy found in growing older. The film recalls the bright colors of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the English fascination with all elements of French culture, and the French New Wave cinema that was so prominent in the 1960s. At the heart of An Education, which is a thoroughly British tale, seems to be a highly American idea, the young virgin seduced by the power, wealth, and security of an older man. From Lolita to our idolization of young female pop stars, America finds the very notion revolting and endlessly fascinating all at once. And perhaps that is the real genius of the film: the audience is seduced right along with Jenny, far too intrigued by David and the charming lifestyle, flowing champagne, and continual laughter.

And in the end, one way or another, Jenny has received an education in life, though perhaps not the one she or her parents wanted for her. What makes escape so necessary is that she finds herself trapped between the lifeless world of her parents, filled with rigidity and rules that seem uselessly antiquated, and the stolid life of her teachers, who press upon her the importance of an education, yet in Jenny's eyes they seem to have been failed by the very values they extol so freely. The marvelous thing about An Education is that Jenny is ultimately certain only of what she does not want.

Grade: A-