Atonement Movie Review

First, this movie review should have been written quite some time ago, as the movie has (supposedly) been out for awhile. Until tonight, i was beginning to think it did not truly exist! After many trials and tribulations, I finally found a local listing and went to view the excitement with my own two eyes!

One of the first things I noticed about this film were the costumes. I adore films from this time period, but this has to be one of the best dressed I have seen to date. The dresses were beautiful, the suits crisp and handsome, and the hair and makeup were perfectly done. There is a dinner scene where Keira Knightley is wearing a green silk dress, which was my favorite of the flick. If you do go see the movie, keep your eyes peeled for this sexy number! The British countryside where the first portion of the movie is shot is nearly as attractive as the costumes.

Throughout the movie, there is a rhythmic tapping of a typewriter, which tells us basically the movie is someone remembering as they pen the story of their life. The typewriter is an important piece to two different characters in the movie; the one writing the story, and the other writing naughty letters, which cause a humorous (in a British, stiff upper lip manner) turn of events, in turn leading to a very emotional exchange between Keira Knightley (Cecelia Tallis) and James McAvoy (Robbie). This first third of the movie is really the best part, as it contains the most fun and passionate exchanges between all of the characters.

The middle third of the movie turns very dark and has Robbie off at war. These scenes are brilliantly shot, but somehow it feels like that is all there is to it. Most of this seems incredibly detached, like a second hand story of what it was like storming the beaches during World War II. At this point, the story flips back and forth between the three main characters: Brionny (the writer, and younger sister of Cecilia), Cecelia and Robbie. Not much occurs in the lives of either sister. Cecelia writes to Robbie, oft repeating throughout to "come back, come back to me," but it somehow is not as heartwrenching as it feels like it should be. Brionny battles her own demons, finally facing up to the trouble she caused 4 years prior and has a hard time coming to terms with it.

Fast forward 60 (maybe 50?) years later to when the book Brionny has taken all this time to write is finally published, and it only serves to further the confusion of time throughout the entire movie. It jumps around from a beginning to several hours earlier, to 4 years later, to six months earlier to three weeks later, leaving one to wonder which part of the story they are actually in.

Although the movie is ok, it is really nothing too thrilling that couldn't wait for an envelope from Netflix. It has the previews of being an epic, weepy love story, none of which is true. Leave the tissues at home if you go! And be prepared to take notes and let me know if you figure out what takes place when! All in all, the movie doesn't do the novel justice. It may seem like a cool idea, but all good books should not be made into feature films. Especially if it's written for the stiff upper lip crowd.