Review: An Education

AN EDUCATION is one of the year's best films, and features a virtuoso, star-making turn from Carey Mulligan. Adapted by Nick Hornby, from Lynn Barber's memoir, AN EDUCATION is a period set drama, which once again belies the notion that Britain doesn't have a film industry to be proud of.

Directed by Dane, Lone Scherfig, AN EDUCATION is pretty much pitch perfect in essaying a believable 1960s London, in which our central protagonist must balance her (and her parents') ambitions to go to a prestigious university, with the excitement of a fledgling romance with an older man. Hornby has done a fine job in turning Barber's story into a film (and one with a likable heroine - no mean feat considering...).

Much of the credit for this should go to Carey Mulligan, whose performance is exquisite. In a cast of experienced and excellent actors, she stands head and shoulders above the rest, so beautifully judged is her performance, and the transition from teenaged girl to young woman has rarely been handled with such empathy and accuracy on screen.

Alongside Mulligan are a who's who of screen talent, including Olivia Williams, Emma Thompson, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike and a never better Alfred Molina. It's an actors' showcase, and the understated direction is perfectly attuned to this. Credit too, to Hornby, whose script is warm and witty, and occasionally incredibly moving.

Very highly recommended.

Review: Fantastic Mr Fox

Witty rather than funny and clever rather than emotionally arresting, the ironic thing about FANTASTIC MR FOX is that rather than being the departure from Wes Anderson's norm, it is almost a parody of his work.

There was obviously pressure on Anderson, handling an animation for the first time in his relatively short career, and taking on the quintessentially English world of Roald Dahl. His previous film, THE DARJEELING LIMITED had received the worst reviews of his career, which made FANTASTIC MR FOX an even more intriguing prospect than it seemed on the surface.

It's important to point out here that the film is not, by any means, a failure. I remarked after seeing THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU that I could quite happily watch Anderson make the same film over and over again, but in spite of the incredible levels of craft and attention that have clearly been lavished on this project it feels too familiar, too self-consciously Wes-esque that it doesn't quite deliver on what could, and should, have been a much more riotous experience.

Like I said, though, the viewing experience is not a bad one. The vocal performances are good, and the film looks terrific. There are moments of great emotional clarity, the moments that Anderson does better than anyone else, but they come more infrequently than they perhaps should do.

Every film that he has made gets better on repeat viewings, and a second viewing of FANTASTIC MR FOX continues the trend, but still stands as the most disappointing film of his terrific career.