A solid A-- for 'An Education'

In 1961, when “An Education” is set, Jenny would have been considered a good girl gone bad.

At 16, she is tops in her class at a London school for girls. She is clever, engaged and eager to begin her life and experience the world.

It is when she meets a dark, handsome and vaguely mysterious older man that she realizes there is more than one way to experience the word. The conventional way is to go to Oxford, get an education and move on to one of the few professions open to women at the time. The other way is on the arms of a dashing, handsome and vaguely mysterious older man.

“An Education” (note the double-edged title) is generally lighthearted, a fond memory of youth, based on the memoir by English columnist Lynn Barber. To tell the truth, sometimes the story feels like it is bragging a bit, but that’s OK. Isn’t that the point of a memoir?

The revelation in this film is not the story (it’s unsurprising, as these things go) but the starring turn by Carey Mulligan. Mulligan plays the role of Jenny as if she were born to it; we believe her, utterly. She’s smart, sassy, worldly, innocent, romantic, bull-headed and prone to showing off by spasmodically speaking in French. N’est-ce pas?

Peter Sarsgaard is smooth and slightly oily as David, the older man who sweeps Jenny off her feet. David is sophisticated and wealthy; he makes his living, he says, by “buying and selling this and that.” His profession turns out to be a little less savory than that sounds, but to Jenny this added air of mystery only adds to his appeal. The only problem with this older man, at least for the audience, is that he is such an older man. David is twice her age, and Jenny is only 16. I generally have no problems with age differences in relationships, but David (perhaps unintentionally) comes off as a bit of a pervert.

It is to this picture’s considerable credit that it has amassed such a strong supporting cast. Alfred Molina stands out, as he always does, as Jenny’s disapproving, but easily co-opted, father. Rosamund Pike is a comic presence as a chic woman unencumbered by knowledge (in a coincidence, Pike played Mulligan’s oldest sister in the Keira Knightley version of “Pride & Prejudice”). Olivia Williams is surprisingly dowdy as Jenny’s English teacher, with Emma Thompson sublime in a couple of scenes as her headmistress.

Heading up the production with authority, compassion and understanding is Dutch director Lone Scherfig, who has a solid yet solid feel for the material. Scherfig keeps the tone light in what could easily come off as a heavy-handed and serious morality tale -- a decision that pays off with dividends from the contrast when the material does become weightier. Scherfig is known in this country for the lovely “Italian for Beginners,” and she scores another hit here.

Ultimately, “An Education” may seem a little slight -- perhaps the light tone keeps ups from taking it seriously enough. But for what it is, it’s fine. It’s a pleasant diversion, one with superior acting.