Carey Mulligan is quite amazing, really. Considering that her only well known film before An Education was Pride and Prejudice, where she played Kitty Bennet, she carried this film amazingly. It was probably the best performance I've seen by an actress this year so far, not hard really because I've only seen ten 2009 films (terrible, I know).
I think Carey is different to Keira in looks and choice of roles, although their second film together, Never Let Me Go, comes out next year. Both are equally as beautiful and talented, and I'm looking forward to seeing more than both of them. Naturally, Carey is my current Oscar win for Best Leading Actress this year.
So. The film. Well, I am a big fan of all Nick Hornby's novels, male orientated as they are, and the subsequent films. I thought his screenplay for this was absolutely fantastic, well paced and humourous in all the right places. The direction and the use of music was fantastic as well.
All the cast, especially Carey, were great, although I wish that Sally Hawkins had been on the screen for more than two minutes! It was a really enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half, and I'm wondering if the film will be a contender for the Academy. It certainly is for me! We definitely need more British films like this.
What the film did get me thinking about, though, was how lucky I am to have so many choices about my future. In the 60s it was get married or go to university, then have a limited range of jobs afterwards. It also made me wonder what I would do if I was in that situation. In fact, it's been the first film in ages where I can strongly identify with one of the characters!
