The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER Published: 29 October 2009
Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard
Getting educated in the university of life
THE EDUCATORS Directed by Lone Scherfig
Certificate 12a
JOURNALIST Lynn Barber’s memoir-turned-movie about being 16 in a London that, in 1961, was on the cusp of swinging, is both funny and gentle.
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is the prisoner of a privet-hedged life in west London, and is petrified as she realises her home is not the centre of the universe and that getting into Oxbridge should not be the only aim for an adolescent. In swooshes dashing older man David (Peter Sarsgaard), who opens her eyes to temptations and dangers. The film’s strengths are many: Nick Hornby’s screenplay is quick-witted, Carey Mulligan’s performance excellent. The coming of age attitude is well observed, while Barber’s original book shows a rare ability to look back at one’s own life and find common threads that every other suburban 16-year-old will be able to relate to.