Sundance Day 4: Deals done, stars born

It doesn't happen too often. but occasionally a star rather than a director arrives at Sundance, and this year the young British actress Carey Mulligan is the one making a buzzy two-point landing. She's in a pair of films here, both well received: "An Education" (photo above) and "The Greatest." I just came out of "An Education," and it's a lovely piece of work, if a little glossy amidst the docs and no-budget dramas more typical of this fest. Written by Nick Hornby (who's in town) and directed by Lone Sherfig ("Italian for Beginners," "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself"), it's a female coming-of-age drama set in Twickenham, London, 1961, just before the Beatles landed and when the prospects of a bright young girl still seemed limited and boring. Mulligan's Jenny is being pushed by dad Alfred Molina to go to Oxford -- mostly so she'll bag an upper-class husband -- but a whirlwind romance with a shady older man (Peter Sarsgaard) puts other ideas in the girl's head.

A deep cast (Olivia Williams as Jenny's dowdy English teacher, Emma Thompson as a stiff-as-a-board headmistress, Sally Hawkins in a small but crucial role) and a creamy-smooth narrative flow make "An Education" an engrossing watch, but it's Mulligan who puts the heart in this movie as a very smart girl in danger of outsmarting herself. The actress is a cutie-pie rather than a glamourpuss -- easy to adore -- and she has the preternatural skills of a real pro: You can see intelligence warring with teenage ardor in Jenny's open face. The movie's very good and will sell in a second; the performance should last much longer.

I haven't seen Mulligan's other movie, "The Greatest," a serious drama about the aftermath of a young man's death that sounds somewhat like this year's "In the Bedroom." Those who like having their tears jerked are coming out of the movie ecstatic and soggy; those who resist same say it's predictable and manipulative. But even they're saying nice things about Mulligan.

After a slow couple of days, a few deals have closed. Mark Urman's new distribution company, Senator, spent a rumored up-to-$5 million on "Brooklyn's Finest," a cop drama from director Antoine Fuqua that has had rather awful word-of-mouth here (but it stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hake, so you can sell it.) "Black Dynamite," a rowdy homage/parody of blaxploitation films that has been slaying audiences at midnight screenings, was picked up by Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group for $2 million. There are rumors flying about that other films are in play: "Spread," which is apparently Ashton Kutcher's response to the Warren Beatty 70s classic "Shampoo," "An Education" and "The Greatest" (see above), "Push" (see previous entry), and "Humpday," which sounds like a mumblecore version of "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

"I Love You Philip Morris" will also probably sell, but is the world ready for a post-"Brokeback Mountain" true-story comedy-drama featuring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor (in photo above) happily shagging away? Saw this last night and it's a fascinating misfire based on the case of a Texan con man named Steven Russell -- currently in prison for life -- and his daring gift for BS-ing mere mortals into thinking he's an attorney or a chief financial officer. The film's tone is all over the map, veering from farce to near-tragedy and back again, and at times Carrey seems to think he's acting in "Ace Ventura 3: Back on Top." It's a broad, sometimes hilarious performance -- as opposed to MacGregor's immersive work as Russell's shy longtime lover -- and it hints more at the rage that fuels Jim Carrey than whatever demons drove Steve Russell. Like I said, fascinating, but too conflicted to really work as a movie. Can't wait to see the expressions of the multiplex audience when they catch this one, though. All-righty, then.