Atonement Movie Review

Atonement is a movie set just before and during WWII that examines the repercussions of a child's lie, and how it changes the lives of everyone involved. It stars Keira Knightly and James McAvoy.

Now, summing up this movie would take too long, so you'll have to accept my abbreviated version above. That said, the story of this film was really its driving force, and nothing more, in my opinion. The acting was very good, but was not really anything special. Knightly has played that character before, and always plays that character if you ask me (I don't like her at all, and think she's overrated), and McAvoy didn't show us anything new either, but I DO think he is a good actor, and was great in this. But back to my original point, this movie was much more plot driven than I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a movie in which stuff happens, but not a lot of it, and it's more about how the movie carries itself without the plot "crutch", if you know what I mean. Great movies, like The Godfather and No Country for Old Men, don't need a lot of plot points because they are great in all the other aspects and those carry it. I didn't think Atonement did that.

However, there was a lot about it I did like. I thought it was an unconventional and interesting story of love. It was also about guilt and kind of spoke on the cruelty of war, but it was a love story, and it did that very well. I thought the "flashback" type structure of the narrative was effective and done well, giving us tidbits of info at the perfect times. I also thought it looked really good. The cinematography and direction were solid, the set pieces were amazing, and some of the shots in the movie were beautiful. There was this one shot that I absolutely loved. (Spoiler!) It was when McAvoy and his 2 war buds had just found the beach with the rest of the troops on it. From the time they started walking, it was about a 3 or 4 minute sustained shot, no edits, that was just beautiful. How the camera moved around and showed everything while still following these 3 guys and showing their reactions, and how everything flowed, all the way until McAvoy went into that building with the movie playing. It was beautifully done and I loved it.

Now, the final thing I want to talk about is the ending. I am very interested in all your opinions about it, so if you've seen it, please comment on this, but I didn't like it. I said before I liked the narrative structure, with "3 weeks earlier" type transitions, but I thought it was one of those "it was only a dream" type cop out endings. For what it was, it did it as well as I've ever seen, but I still didn't like it. (Spoiler!) The realization that we've just been listening to this girl's made up story, and that some parts were true and others were made up was kind of frustrating. Now, I get that it could have different meanings, like making her imagination a character, or saying that was her way of making things right, or whatever, but none of that was woven into the story enough, so I didn't think it worked and didn't like it.

All in all, I recognize that this was a good movie. Being a self-proclaimed (and aspiring) film buff, I know and can appreciate a good movie, and this was one of them. That said, I didn't like it. The first act was too slow, the flaws were too glaring; it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I can see why it's getting love this awards season (which is really the only reason I saw it). Now, after finally seeing it, I can say with conviction and authority that Atonement is not as good as No Country for Old Men, and No Country for Old Men should win the Oscar for Best Picture. Well, maybe Juno should, but comedies get no love.

On the Reganometer, I give Atonement an 8 out of 10.