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Re: An Education

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:01 pm
by Sabin
Barney's Version is a very interest movie that I don't think entirely works, but it's almost worth seeing because of some charm and a very good performance by Paul Giamatti. I had the opposite problem that you did, Magilla. I thought the first part of the flashbacks were very entertaining while the second half constituting his marriage felt congealed. I'm not even entirely convinced we need to know how Barney fails to hang onto his beyond luminous wife. He's a fuck-up. We know this. I want to see more of how he won her over. I think that is where the movie is.

Rosamund PIke is wonderful. I loved her in An Education and I love her here. She is a bit late but she will make the rounds for quite some time. She's very intelligent.

Paul Giamatti's performance is incredibly sad. You see and feel the entirety of his life. This is a very good companion piece to Miles from Sideways, a film that I feel is much better but likely a much easier story to tell. It seemed as though this past year, everyone could agree that the four likeliest contenders for Best Actor were Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Colin Firth, and James Franco, with Javier Bardem, Robert Duvall, and Ryan Gosling vying for fifth. I think that if Barney's Version had been released a bit earlier then Paul Giamatti might have snuck in. Barney's Version absolutely should have won for Best Makeup.

Re: An Education

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 4:59 am
by Big Magilla
I finally caught up with Barney's Version in light of mayukh's reference and in deference to the book's author, Mordecai Richler, whose The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Sabin's suggestion for OG's Movie Book Club, I need to revisit.

I had problems with the beginning, but by the end I was hooked. Paul Giamatti, who was always a good actor, keeps getting better, and the last few scenes of the movie are quite sadly realistic. Rosamund Pike is good throughout, but she really shines in her last few senes. At 32 she's a bit of a late bloomer for international stardom but I think she could be another Helen Mirren the way she's going now.

Re: An Education

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:58 am
by Reza
I agree that Rosamund Pike made more of an impression in this film (at least to me) than the lead. She is superb and I'm surprised more people didn't notice her. I cited her performance in my best of for the year. She was also the only good thing about Barney's Version.

Re: An Education

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:09 pm
by Big Magilla
OK, I kind of remember her.

Re: An Education

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:25 pm
by mayukh
She was the airy blonde hoity-toity girlfriend of Sarsgaard's partner in crime.

Re: An Education

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:57 pm
by Big Magilla
I don't remember Rosamund Pike in this. Hopefully that doesn't mean I'll have to watch it a third time to find out.

Re: An Education

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:13 pm
by mayukh
With the upcoming release (and what seems to be trashing) of Scherfig's One Day, I got to thinking about An Education, and...oh my. I'm shocked to see that some on this board even called this a good movie. (I'm also pretty surprised to see people label Up in the Air intelligent filmmaking, because it struck me as totally lazy and banal, but that's for another day...) The ending is downright lousy, the film's aesthetic is bland and pleasant, the muddled politics struck me so stupid that they were almost offensive, and Mulligan is indeed terribly miscast. Mulligan is such an intelligent screen presence – quick-thinking and sharp, which I value so much – but she really doesn't convey the necessary dose of naivete and inexperience this character is supposed to have. She's hardly vulnerable enough. Star-making performance – please.

The one standout? Rosamund Pike. She's glorious. Olivia Williams is very good in her supporting role – Sally Hawkins, even, is nice in a succinct one – but Pike is amazing, luminous as hell. I hope she has a big career. I have yet to see Barney's Version, where I heard she was good as well. The screen absolutely lit up when she was around and I'm slightly surprised that more people didn't mention her here.

Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:02 am
by Big Magilla
I saw this for the second time and I still don't get the acclaim.

Carey Mulligan is decent in the part but that's about all. The character doesn't really come alive until near the end of the story.

Peter Saarsgard's character is such an obsequious creep that it makes no sense whatsoever how Alfred Molina's character could fall for his crap. The book smart but otherwise dumb schoolgirl, OK, but the father? No way.

Only Olivia Williams in the stereotypical role of the dedicated, self-sacrificing teacher and Matthew Beard as the awkward student suitor evoke any real sympathy.

Nice period detail, though.

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:08 pm
by ITALIANO
A good movie, certainly, and very well acted not only by Carey Mulligan - the best of the three nominated performances I've seen till now in her category - but by the rest of the cast (Alfred Molina and Olivia Williams especially). It's one of those "small", intimate movies which still, between the lines, subtly paints a larger portrayal of a time and a place. And unlike so many movies based on autobiographies, this one does feel TRUE, real.
But I agree that, had the movie been Italian (which of course it could never be), or probably even just non-British, it would have been much more tolerant of the anti-hero's admittedly ambiguous behavior; or at least the girl would have seen at the end the whole experience with a more benevolent eye - with the sympathy that usually comes long after the facts, if not for the man at least for her very human and frankly not so criminal (and probably enriching) mistakes.

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:28 pm
by Okri
Adapted screenplay is no longer strong enough - Nine and The Lovely Bones aren't getting nominated. Invictus and The Last Station are on the edge. So after Precious and Up in the Air, I don't see how An Education doesn't get nominated there.

But I thought Rachel Getting Married was a lock last year.

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:32 pm
by Sabin
"Well, a lot of Jews are like Peter Sarsgaard."

Pretty sure he isn't, but he shares a bed with Maggie Gyllenhaal so he's one of the flock honorarily.

She meant the character, not the actor.

Slow on the uptake over here. That aside: wow.


I remember thinking a couple weeks ago that An Education was all-but locked in for six nominations, that Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Costume Design were safe bets. Now Mulligan might be the sole nominee. Must I truly see Julie & Julia?

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:43 am
by Damien
Sabin wrote:
"Well, a lot of Jews are like Peter Sarsgaard."
Pretty sure he isn't, but he shares a bed with Maggie Gyllenhaal so he's one of the flock honorarily.
She meant the character, not the actor.

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:44 am
by Sabin
"Well, a lot of Jews are like Peter Sarsgaard."

Pretty sure he isn't, but he shares a bed with Maggie Gyllenhaal so he's one of the flock honorarily.

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:30 am
by Damien
Sabin wrote:There.

The message of An Education is one of two things: . . . don't trust Jews.

Josh, having sat through the film, your comment is one of the funniest all year.

I thought that was a vile sub-text to the picture, but I quoted you to my (Jewish) dentist who loved the movie, and she said, "Well, a lot of Jews are like Peter Sarsgaard."




Edited By Damien on 1260952294

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:18 pm
by Okri
So glad someone doesn't like it. I love it, but glad to see Damien waving his contrarian flag high and proudly.