When you watch the film entitled "Educating Rita" you might try superimposing similar films like My Fair Lady. The basis for them is similar. Here we have Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) as a surly, boozy English professor who encounters Rita (Julie Walters) a young housewife dreaming of being part of the educated university crowd who are able to discuss English writers and poets with a certain flair and panache. Rita who changes her name to Susan, views them with secret envy and desires to be accepted as one of them. Her husband on the other hand, wants nothing more than to have Rita bear his children and thinks Rita should be satisfied with being a commoner. However, once convinced Rita is sincere, Bryant does his best to develop her abilities which surprising enough are considerable. What Rita does not know and which Caine tries to warn her of, is that her basic grasp of English Writers is innocently superior to the soggy, established and often mundane approaches accepted by the collegial crowd. Nevertheless, Rita ignores his advice and slowly morphs into her ideal while attempting to reform her teacher, a failed poet who wants nothing more than to accept his status of being a 'fixture' in his marriage and the arena of academics. This is a great film for Caine and fun for anyone who dreams of being someone else. ***
Review of Educating Rita
