Every so often I browse imdb.com for upcoming movies and while searching a couple of months ago I came upon this movie. I had seen Peter Sarsgaard in a couple movies like Jarhead and Shattered Glass and just really liked his acting style. So I clicked on the trailer and instantly fell in love with the movie's love story; a young girl falls in love with an older gentleman and he shows her the world! I didn't get to see the film at the theater and it seemed forever until it came out on DVD. It was worth the wait!
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a pretty and smart 16-year old girl who is what people would say "well beyond her years". She is living in suburban-London in the 1960's, bored out of her mind studying Latin and French, hoping to get into Oxford and dreaming of a life in Paris. Her parents, are very loving but very strict, wanting her to study hard and not waste time listening to French music records.
One rainy day, Jenny is standing outside, fresh from cello practice when a handsome man about twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard) drives up in a fancy car. He introduces himself as David and offers her and her cello a ride out of the rain because he loves music and doesn't want her instrument to be ruined. She agrees and is instantly hooked by his charms. The next day he sends her flowers wishing her luck on her upcoming music concert. Jenny runs into him the following day and thanks him for the flowers. He invites her on a date with him, a request her father disapproves of. But when David comes by to ask for her father's approval personally, both her parents are also swept away by his charms and agree to let her go.
David and Jenny meet up with his friends Danny and Helen (Dominique Cooper, Rosemund Pike) to see an orchestra and have dinner and drinks. Jenny can't help but fall in love with David's world of excitement, money, concerts, fancy restaurants and expensive clothes! She feels alive and is romanticized by all the glamour. David then convinces her parents to let him take her away for a weekend to show her Paris. Impressed by his cultural knowledge they trust his intentions and agree to let her go. Jenny feels as if her dreams are coming true. She leaves behind her studies and goes off to Paris.
Everything seems to be going well, but Jenny soon finds out how David earns his living and her confidence in him starts to dwindle. Jenny must decide between the boring life of her studies or the exciting life David has introduced her to. The decision is harder than she ever imagined as she, though smart and mature, reveals her innocence and naivety.
I love this movie so much because it reminds me of the infatuation with life and love I felt when I was a teenager. I remember learning some lessons the hard way, just as Jenny does in this story, but some lessons are worth the heartache.
Carey Mulligan is amazing in her first starring role playing her character with such poise and Peter Sarsgaard is smooth and charming. Both play their roles so naturally and effortlessly and the chemistry between them reminds me of an old-time Hollywood romance. This movie is full of other strong performances from Alfred Molina as Jenny's father, Olivia Williams as one of her teachers and Emma Thompson as the headmistress at her school.
I highly recommend this film.
Stars *****
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