Cast: Carey Mulligan (Jenny), Peter Sarsgaard (David), Olivia Williams (Miss Stubs), Alfred Molina (Jack)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's An Education page.
I didn't know much about this movie when I rented it. Once I read about a movie and add it to my list, I try to forget anything I know about the story so I can just enjoy the movie when I see it. That seemed to work really well for An Education for some reason. The idea behind the movie isn't all that unique, but I think An Education does it better than many movies managed. I highly recommend renting the movie if you didn't see it in a theatre.
As usual, I don't want to give anything away, but it's a great coming of age tale that works a lot better than Mona Lisa Smile did, in my opinion.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2009, Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, drama, movie, Olivia Williams, period, Peter Sarsgaard
Reviewed by Kat at the 6:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Meryl Streep (Dr. Carolyn Ryan), Liam Neeson (Ben Ryan), Edward Furlong (Jacob Ryan), Julia Weldon (Judith Ryan), Alfred Molina (Panos Demeris)
For complete cast info, see Before and After page.
Before and After is a very moving movie with a wonderful cast. I rented it mostly because of Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson (I didn't realize Alfred Molina was in it at the time and didn't remember why I recognized the name Edward Furlong), but the entire cast is wonderful. This movie explores what happens to a family when the son is suspected of murdering his girlfriend.
The fact that all of this takes place in a small town really impacts the way the story plays out. Some of what happened really blew me away, but I guess many things work differently in small towns than big ones. I can't imagine dealing with anything the Ryan family has to handle in this movie. I highly recommend renting this movie. I wasn't sure what to expect, since I didn't remember hearing about it when it was released in 1996, but the movie is very well done and held my interest until the very end.
Grade: A-
Labels: 1996, Alfred Molina, crime, drama, Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep, movie, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 screams