Aaaah I see, never knew you had an issue with that........................Now stare into Vanessa's eyes again, love this film and she shall romance you!!

This is a powerful, captivating film. Joe Wright expands on the promise he showed in Pride & Prejudice; Atonement is brilliantly directed and edited. As others have said, the first half of the film is more impressive than the second (the second half is still excellent, though). As the youngest Briony, Saoirse Ronan is superb; actress Romola Garai, who looks eerily like Ronan in the film, sympathetically plays her as a teenager; and, of course, the incomparable Vanessa Redgrave gives her usual wonderful performance as Briony in the film's epilogue. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley are both very good (although I'm not sure award-worthy) considering that Robbie and Cecilia are far less interesting than Briony. Two stylistic choices I loved in this film were the presentation of events through different perspectives (once through Briony and once through a more neutral one), and the musical score that incorporates a typewriter into its beat (clever). In addition, the ending perfectly connects the entire film and makes it very clear what Atonement is trying to say. This slides in as my #2 film of the year as of now. A

QFT - - read this again in ten years...

Don't tell me it ends with someone addressing the camera/audience. I hate it when it's in a self-aware way, depending on the movie.

It doesn't do it in a self-aware way.

Sigh...I don't know.
I was never bored, but parts of this movie were really terribly done. The screenplay was atrocious. Absolutely horrible. It prevented any of the performances from shining, as there was simply nothing to work with. The only noteworthy turns were those by all 3 Briony's. Well, maybe Keira, but her character was written so horribly for the screen, that she couldn't escape one-dimensional stylization. James McAvoy is drop dead gorgeous, and becoming a better actor.
The film was beautiful, but too impressed with itself. The score was good, not great, but I didn't like the typewriter thing.
The story is great, but with the limited dialogue and running time, it all felt contrived instead of epic.
I really think Joe Wright did a terrible job with this.
But still, for some reason I liked it pretty consistently despite many obvious flaws.
As far as awards go, I wouldn't go beyond a cinematography nom, possibly some supporting nods for the 2 younger Briony's, and maybe one for score (since it doesn't seem to be that strong a year).

Not sure what grade to give it.

Bradley, what the hell?

That really pisses me off.

Just because I had a different opinion of the movie than you did doesn't mean I'm going to "see the light" in 10 years and suddenly hate it.

That is unbelievably condescending and ridiculous. Shut up.

That's an interesting interpretation of my post - - good 'ol Libs, straight to the hate - - but the alternative is that you might just as possibly be vindicated...

Thank goodness. For a second I was afraid you could soil the movie by liking it

Oh man, I hate that. Why can't they just let the events speak for themselves? I don't like to be talked down to like I'm an idiot. Does the book do this too or not?

Now I'm really worried about this movie with most people here not caring for it . But I don't get how the reviews would be so positive if it really were such a mediocre affair.

By the way, I highly disagree wit that quote about Vanessa Redgrave's thing being "condescending." It's a needed element to give the movie its power.

Just go see the movie and don't worry about what people on here think about it.

You guys don't have to be so vague. This is the section for spoilers, for talking openly about any detail you want.

This isn't directed at anybody in particular, just I've noticed a trend for a while of talking around major plot points in the review section as if people don't want to spoil things.

Well, I would speak freely normally, but Mike (who hasn't seen it and obviously wants to a great deal) is kind of hanging around.

Sorry.

I know it's a place where you can post spoilers, but people usually have enough courtesy to post spoiler warnings (and I think they should, even in here) and it isn't fair that someone who hasn't seen a movie yet can't see what his fellow posters are saying about it without fear of having it ruined for them. So I'm kind of having enough faith in people that they'll post a spoiler warning if they're going to give anything away.

And yeah, I'll see the movie for myself. Maybe it will play out better in the actual movie than how it sounds.

I'm still kind of in awe over how phenomenal this film was. It's definitely a new addition to my favorite films of all-time.

Did anyone else find it ironic that Keira's big line was "Come back to me," which was Nicole Kidman's big line in Cold Mountain?
The the movies seem to be headed to the same fate.
Anyways, I think I've decided on a low B for Atonement, despite some very serious flaws. It won't make my Top 10.

A lot of people like The Notebook, which is fine. But...honest? It is one of the most manipulative movies so far this decade!

Saw Atonement yesterday. Pretty much what Libs said. Loved the final 10 minutes of the film. It was just a level below a masterpiece, but close enough which especially astonishing considering how difficult the material is to translate from page to screen.

A-

I fail to see the relation between this and The Notebook, aside from the young lovers angle

I really loved it, too

B+.
I wanted to love it, and I loved the first half, but the second half was a drop for me, in the quality until the ending which was great. This is the first big dissapointment for me, since I loved everyone invovled.

decent film but really nothing amazing. This is a huge letdown for me because I'm a big fan of everyone involved. The ending was really not all that surprising because it made sense, it had to happen. I don't understand all the love for the film. Though I'm sure the academy is going to love it.

B

No. Saw this today and I felt the same way. It didnt move me at all. Yes its very pretty, cinemetography is oscar worthy (the Dunkirk tracking shot Gulli mentions is amazing), great work from Macavoy, Kiera and the girl playing Briony but overall it left me a little dissapointed. Not the masterpiece I expected.

Grade : B

Did we see the same movie, guys?


I don't remember being this moved since... well, probably since The Fountain. Expectations were very high - afterall, I'm one of those who thought The English Patient deserved all those Oscars 10 years ago.. I can admit I'm a sucker for big epic romances, when done right of course. So, call me biased, whatever. This is gorgeously refreshing. Refreshing not only because it's done in a way that doesn't feel the least bit forced, but also because it runs a little under 2 hours, which is very rare for a movie like this. And to get it right on top of that... it feels like the right time for such a thing. I'm glad they didn't felt the need to endlessly expand the whole 2nd act.

And I haven't been that in love with someone, so imagine if I was, lol. And I'm not exactly a Keira Knightley/James McAvoy fan either... I guess they have just climbed a few spots in my personal list. I haven't read the novel, and heard it's one of those unfilmable novels. Judging by the end result, I beg to differ and I'm now curious to read it.

One quick note: Romula Garai is being overlooked, I think. It'd be very difficult to put the 3 Brionys in the race I know. It's just that I felt her job is as good as Ronan's (and Redgrave's for that matter, even though one might think she gets the "easier" job of revealing all that stuff when the audience has already fallen over for the whole thing... or not!).


I doubt I'll see a better picture this year.

A-/B+

The final 10 minutes saves the 2nd half of the film i think.

I think Romola Garai is being thoroughly overlooked as well.