A precocious English schoolgirl of 1961 (a cellist, a Francophile, a devotee of the Pre-Raphaelites, a sneaky smoker for sophistication), on track for Oxford, gets rerouted by a shady older man who shows her the finer things of life: a Ravel concert, a Christie's auction, nightclubs, Paris. The foreseeable end is a bit of a slog, but the film in the early stages is very good on the pretensions of intelligent youth, and very good on the heady intoxication of growing up fast. Peter Sarsgaard's British accent is hit-and-miss; and the prim schoolmarm of Olivia Williams, a beauty disguised in eyeglasses and pulled-back hair, is strictly stock; and the comic portraits of the heroine's hidebound dad, a same-aged fumbling suitor, and a blond bimbo (Alfred Molina, Matthew Beard, Rosamund Pike, in order) are sharp but narrow. Keeping things fully alive throughout, however, is Carey Mulligan in the lead, showing off, among her other talents, the freshest smile since Eleanor Powell: plenty of teeth with a demure downturn at the corners of the mouth. And Sally Hawkins, back to reality from the giddy heights of Happy-Go-Lucky, has a tiny but vital part to play. With Cara Seymour, Dominic Cooper, Emma Thompson; directed by Lone Scherfig. (2009) — Duncan Shepherd