Carey Mulligan, unguarded, in 'Wildlife'

Carey Mulligan is aware.

She very much knows that recently she has appeared almost exclusively in period dramas. Which has led to a perception that she is very serious and perhaps even a bit gloomy. And that nearly every story written about her includes some variation of referring to her as "private" or even "guarded."

In the new film "Wildlife," continuing to play in Los Angeles as it has been steadily expanding around the country, Mulligan plays Jeanette Brinson, a woman who finds herself adrift in early 1960s Montana. Her husband, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), having lost his job, impulsively takes off to fight a wildfire. This leaves her alone with their teenage son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould), and a growing sense that the life