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'An Education'

Drama, PG-13, 95 min.

Sixteen-year-old Jenny learns the ways of the world in this coming-of-age drama, but there's a revelation in store for us, as well. We get the pleasure of meeting an exciting young actress who surely deserves to become a star. Carey Mulligan, right, is radiant as a suburban teenager in 1961 London who's curious and clever beyond her years, but still rather innocent and impressionable. Although she's a diligent student and dutiful daughter, she sits alone in her bedroom at night longing to be grown-up enough to live in Paris on her own, basking in the culture. Mulligan maintains a beautifully believable balance of these contrasting forces, even as Jenny gets drawn from the sedate and boring life she knows into a glamorous new one. Her guide is David (Peter Sarsgaard doing a solid British accent), a thirtysomething man with whom she experiences an immediate connection.

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'The Blind Side'

Drama, PG-13, 128 min.

This redemption-minded sports flick serves its inspiration straight-up with no twist. Writer-director John Lee Hancock wisely lets the true story of Michael Oher - the black teen who found a home and, eventually, football stardom, after being adopted by a wealthy Memphis family - speak for itself. That direct focus delivers a feel-good crowd-pleaser, but it also drains the film of the kind of subtle nuances that might have separated it from other Hollywood Hallmark-like efforts, including Hancock's own "The Rookie." The movie dutifully chronicles the transformation of Oher (newcomer Quinton Aaron) from blank slate to a fully formed young man, emphasizing the involvement of Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock, above). Bullock brings her trademark spunkiness to the mother hen role, delivering an iron-willed woman who looks past appearances to do the right thing.

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'2012'

Action, PG-13, 158 min.

The end is not near enough for this latest nihilistic disaster flick, directed by end-of-the-world specialist Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Independence Day"). The 2 1/2-hour film hues close to genre standards: the redeemed deadbeat dad (John Cusack, right), the coming together of different peoples, the toppling of monuments. The cause of destruction this time is neutrinos from the sun that have heated the Earth's core and destabilized the planet's crust. Cusack and others skip narrowly ahead of the shifting tectonics; California falls into the ocean and much of the world follows suit. The most grounded thing here is the acting. Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor (as a government scientist), Oliver Platt (as the president's chief-of-staff) and Woody Harrelson (perfectly cast as a conspiracy theory-addled nut) almost convince you that something decent is at work in "2012."

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