You may like this film if you’re a teenage girl with a thing for an older guy, or you’re a middle age woman who wants a trip down memory lane about how she almost ruined her life. I found it a bit flat. The acting is fine and the period detail memorable, but the whole thing felt too familiar. The girl knows the guy is dodgy – he lies about going to Oxford, lies to her parents. So it’s a bit rich she later blames her parents… but then, she is a boomer. Surely in years to come she’ll look back on it with some fondness? I mean she had a couple of great nights, a wonderful weekend in Paris, she lost her virginity romantically, etc. Carey Mulligan is very good, but it’s a terrific role – she’s in every scene.
This reminded me a lot of Guinevere, with Sarah Polley. Like that film, this lacks surprises – the heroine goes in with her eyes mostly open, she knows the older guy is dodgy but figures her life is boring so what the hey? Which is a mature characterisation and mature and all that stuff but it means that they film doesn’t really have anywhere to go (the same thing happened in Guinevere). I thought they wouldn’t have made the film without coming up with a fresh twist apart from the standard soap ones (eg he’s married, she gets pregnant) but they don’t.
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