A nasty little film that somehow got good reviews

"An Education" is a nasty little film that, surprisingly, got some very positive reviews, mainly, I think, because of the strong performance of Carrie (?) Milligan, who is great but a bit too old for the part of a 16-year-old. I also think the Brits will tolerate anything as long as it's set 50 or more years ago (this set in 1961), and Americans remain complete suckers for British accents and will accept the most odious behavior if cloaked in an Oxbridge mumble. Yes, I realize that An Education is based on a memoir, so the bones of the story are probably true, which does not excuse the way the story is conveyed in this film. First of all, it's scripted by Nick Hornby, so we know from the start it will wend its way toward some whimsical, feel-good, probably unearned conclusion. Second, there is no way on earth that a girl like Milligan would fall for the older man (Peter Saarsgaard) and his crew of liars and thieves - and even less likely that her parents would be taken in for two seconds by his act, that they would not be appalled by his obvious criminal exploitation of their daughter. If the movie had a shred of honesty, it would portray Milligan's character as a deeply troubled and rebellious teen, a vulnerable young woman (as in the novel Amy & Isabelle, for one recent example). And - though the film does show that Saarsgaard is a liar and a petty criminal, which should be immediately apparent to every other character, by the way - it never gets the right balance of making him credibly attractive to Milligan but repulsive to everyone else. There's an undercurrent in the movie that seems to say, yes, youthful rebellion like hers can really be a lark, especially when your parents are clueless and your teachers are uptight harridans of the worst sort - who wouldn't rebel? - and it will all come out right in the end. Guess what? It usually won't.