CAPSULES

‘An Education ’  ½ (Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina) In 1961 London, sophisticated older man David (Sarsgaard) seduces the brainy 16-year-old Jenny (Mulligan) by showing her a world outside of schoolbooks. There’s no creepiness here, just an engaging story about a wide-eyed girl who gets carried away with what the world has to offer. Mr. Sarsgaard is imminently likeable as David, and newcomer Ms. Mulligan glows in a starmaking turn as Jenny. Expect to see her name at awards time, and for many years to come. Rated PG-13.

‘Amelia’ 

(Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor) The career of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart (Swank) is chronicled from her first transatlantic flight in 1928 to her disappearance over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. Given that it’s a biopic about someone who broke so many barriers, director Mira Nair’s (“The Namesake”) film is surprisingly dull. Ms. Nair deserves credit for mustering tension during the inevitable conclusion, and Ms. Swank’s performance is fine, but the tone and quality isn’t that far above a television special. Rated PG.

‘Coco Before Chanel ’ 

(Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola) Director Anne Fontaine’s biopic follows fashion designer Coco Chanel in early (before she became famous) 20th century France as she lives with a wealthy aristocrat (Poelvoorde) and falls in love with one of his friends (Nivola). Tautou’s strong performance paints Ms. Chanel as a fighter and freethinker, and it’s fun the see the seeds of what she would become manifest in logical and practical ways. Rated PG-13. 