Atone for Seeing a Chick Flick

Movie review of "Atonement".
Published on facebook.com, 26th January 2008.

They say it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Well, having seen the trailers and heard a little of the soundtrack I knew I was pretty much in for a tear-fest with this film. That said, I think enough of McEwan's writing translates into the movie version for this to be a sublimely heart-aching experience.

Pretty good performances from all actors concerned, with McAvoy and Blethlyn probably coming out on top. Knightley also does a good job but the problem with her is that I can't watch her on screen - despite her stunning looks - without wincing. The poor girl is practically skeletal and I'd mail her a cheeseburger or two if I only knew where she lived.

Anyway, the movie manages to extend and hang on a simple premise that stretches excruciatingly for nearly two hours having been set up close to the start of the film. It's not without humour either, though if you're like me and prefer a happy ending then find something else to watch.

Great screenplay and special effects used with restraint give an excellent backdrop of pan-European warfare principally in France and London to the romance, remorse, guilt and ostricisation in the foreground.