A little British film called "An Education" swept through independent theaters in mid-summer winning the praise of critics on both sides of the Atlantic but made little headway with mainstream American audiences. Nominated for Best Picture of the Year and Best Lead Actress by the Academy comes as little surprise to regular cinephiles but leaves all the rest thinking "huh?"</p><p>Although it is the newest film by "About a Boy" director Nick Hornby it is not headlined by a power player like Hugh Grant, nor does it pretend to be a film that appeals to everyone. The protagonist, played by the young unknown Carey Mulligan in her first leading role, is a 16-year-old student from the London suburbs swept off her feet by a 35-year-old playboy, played with brute charm by Peter Sarsgaard.</p><p>Mulligan is the fresh-faced Jenny, an avid reader of Camus and subsequently a self-proclaimed existentialist, she has been studying her entire life to have good enough marks to win a scholarship to Oxford. For a young middle class girl in mid-60s London, her father explains, a proper education behind marrying up is the best way to ensure a comfortable life. School is hard and boring, her teachers tell her, but so is the rest of life. But Jenny is a constant inquirer; she listens to French music, reads philosophy, she has a maturity far beyond her prep school girlfriends, she's just waiting for someone to show her the fun side of life.</p><p>So on a rainy winter day after cello lessons, a posh young man in a foreign sports car pulls up and offers her a ride -- he's concerned about her instrument being ruined, he explains. Jenny cautiously gets in the car. Days later the man, David, sends her flowers -- to wish her luck at her concert he says. Then he casually runs into her in her neighborhood, complete coincidence he assures her, but a happy coincidence, maybe she'd like to go to a concert and dinner.</p><p>How is David going to convince Jenny's overprotective father to let his daughter go out with a much older man, we wonder, but the task is really quite simple. David is a constant negotiator and a consummate charmer, in five minutes he convinces her parents that he has only the best intentions, maybe they secretly hope that Jenny will be married and they won't have to pay the expensive tuition.</p><p>Suddenly Jenny is thrust into the world of the young and cultured, David whisks her off for weekend trips to Oxford and Paris with his hip friends. Jenny attaches herself to his friend Helen, a mod blonde who dresses in fur coats and silk dresses -- life can be fun Jenny soon learns.</p><p>What Hornby has done is take a common storyline and created a rather insightful film. We have seen many times before stories about young people being thrust into the adult world with wide na&#239;ve eyes only to find a rather seedy and disappointing reality. "Almost Famous" immediately comes to mind.</p><p>Much relies on the acting between Mulligan and Sarsgaard. Mulligan takes a two dimensional character and acts out a multi-layered, intelligent young woman. Although she won't take home an Oscar there are many roles in her future. Sarsgaard is particularly good -- all our intuition tells us we shouldn't trust him, but he gets us to believe that showing a young girl the "real" world is a virtuous undertaking. He puts a lot of charm on top of his pathetic and deceptive interior, and we believe every bit of it.</p><p>Despite the cool exterior of "An Education" it is a warm and enjoyable film, and although it has slipped through the cracks, it is worthwhile to rent when it debuts to DVD.