Atonement

(2007)
Every once in a while I have a maybe it was just me movie. All of us have the experience of disliking otherwise popular films, and sometimes we see what others do not; that this is simply a bad movie, and most folks got fooled (this is still my verdict on Gladiator). But every so often I come across a widely acclaimed movie, one that more critical films people seem to embrace, and I come away with a wholly different opinion. Its then I wonder if maybe I missed something, some mystical element that the rest of you picked up on but went right by me. Such is the case with Atonement. One must be careful with Keira Knightley period pieces, because they vary wildly in quality and enjoyability. But between high praise from word of mouth (okay, word of internet), James McAvoy, a WWII setting, I thought, wow, this one must really have it all. Obviously I couldnt have been completely convinced as it took me five years to get around to seeing it, but I had high expectations going in. Atonement follows the story of one Briony (Saoirse Ronan), a young girl living in a splendid country manor house on the eve of WWII. She has a distant relationship with her older sister Cecilia (Knightley), whom herself has a complex relationship with the son of one of the help, Robbie (McAvoy). Robbie has apparently been given every opportunity to better himself by Cecilias father education, college, etc., -but for some vexing reason has opted to stick around as a worker at the manor. Hmm, a mystery. When Robbie finally gets up the courage to make his intentions about Cecilia plain to her, he finds she returns his feelings, but young Briony is jealous I think, its never entirely made clear and when visiting friend Paul Marshall (everyones favorite, Benny Cumberbatch) tries to rape one of Brionys young cousins, Briony lies and pins the blame on Robbie, ostensibly to keep his paws off of Cecilia. Maybe; again, its not made clear. Then Robbie goes off to war and Cecilila becomes a nurse, and I thought, well, at least well have some wartime stuff to get this movie started, because all of what Ive just told you takes an hour to unspool on film. But the only bombers we ever see are reflected in the water as Robbie and a few lads make their way to Dunkirk, and I realized nothing was going to happen in this war, they were all going to just sit around and talk. Maybe its just me (like I said at the top), but Atonement moves waaaaaay too slow to be interesting, Yes, I know all about British manners dramas, I get that, but here, every scene seems to move in slow motion; Knightley and McAvoy moon so much for the camera I wondered if the DVD were spinning at the wrong speed. Nothing much happens for the first forty minutes of the film, and whats worse, Briony whom were supposed to relate to, I guess is an annoying little bitch. You sort of kind of root for Robbie and Cecilia, but even they are so lifeless and restrained that when they finally do make love its like two mannequins accidentally bumping into one another. The first hour simply crept by, and I found myself unable to invest in any of these characters in any way. Cumberbatch plays a real

dick, but at least hes having fun and is engaging to watch; the others come off as simply dull, the kind of people youd make excuses not to go out with. Again, since this movie is so widely revered, maybe I just missed something. But this is one of those annoying plots that could have been resolved with a thirtysecond conversation straightening everything out; rather than that, though, we are supposed to wallow in the misery and drama of two people who fall in love but are kept separate blah blah blah, and in the end they reveal the whole thing was a trick anyway, which didnt leave me feeling any more cheated because I had that gnawing sensation the whole movie, that something was supposed to happen but never did. Maybe your mileage might vary (I would hope so, Id hate for anyone to find this film as tedious as I did), but I would advise you to steer clear of this languid, unsatisfying film. August 21, 2012