An Education tells the story of Jenny, at 16, in the 1960s. Specifically, during a one year period of her life when she is at a cross road. She is smart, pretty and very likable. She  stands a good chance of getting into Oxford for an English degree. What would a woman in the 60s do with an English degree? well, according to her headmistress, teach or …I forgot what the other option was. Then  she meets David. He is rich, smart, well dressed and he seems to offer her the opportunity to live the life of glamour she so dearly wants. He takes her to concerts, fancy restaurants and even to a weekend in Paris! This is not a sensational film about a sleazy older man taking advantage of poor little Jenny. David, from all appearances, actually does seem like a decent guy. Well, he does sort of con old ladies out of their homes and old maps. He seems to have a very good reason for doing that though. It sure seems that way to Jenny. I have not even mentioned his very interesting friends, one of whom is so flabbergasted that Jenny, an English woman, would go to school to study English and probably turn “ugly” in the process! Of course David has his secrets, but the movie unfolds deliberately and does not bombard us with surprises. If anything Jenny is using David as much as he might be using her. Does she really love him? or is he just  a stepping stone into a world she might never know anytime soon in her little corner of London. We get excellent performances from everyone in this film, especially Carey Mulligan as Jenny.