Atonement

It took me awhile to see Atonement but I am glad that I finally took the time to see it in a theater. Sometimes I can’t even explain my own actions, I hear about the great performances by both Keira Knightley and James McAvoy and yet I still don’t get off my ass. But let me read about a 5 minute tracking shot of England retreating from France during World War II and 3 days later my ticket is bought. Still the final outcome is that I saw Atonement and it was a beautiful story that had an even better ending than I expected.

Any worries that I had about sitting through your standard 2-hour love story were removed once the word “cunt” became an important storyline point. How can I not get behind a movie like this? In fact, once we got past the slow start with all the character introductions, Atonement told one of the best stories of the year. It was a slick how Briony's misinterpretations were shown from her point of view and then then the movied went back and showed those same scenes as important the moments in the relationship between Cecilia and Robbie that they were. In fact the Briony character was so well established as a story-teller that once she see saw Robbie and Cecilia by the fountain it was all downhill from there. There was also the Lola and Paul candy bar scene which was beyond awkward and uncomfortable. And the interactions between those two only got worse from there and by the end of the movie is downright nauseating. There was the aforementioned “cunt” letter that just blindsided me with its awesomeness. Once Robbie is sent to jail, the movie jumps ahead to World War II. The state of the main 3 characters has completely changed, Robbie enlisted to get out of jail, Cecilia cuts herself off from her family and live alone, and Briony is racked with guilt over her actions. This section is more straightforward with Robbie trying to get out of France alive, Cecilia waiting for him, and Briony trying to come to grips with what she did by being a nurse and writing the story of what occurred. The conclusion of everything is amazing with Briony 60ish years in the future talking about the book she has written about this part of her life. There are revelations that I had a feeling may occur but were still floored once they took place. This was a fantastic story.

Atonement’s plot wasn’t the only thing going for it. The two main performances by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy were incredible. Although it seems like Knightley prefers to act in the past, she is so damn good at it that I can’t complain. The way she moves and speaks at the beginning of the movie is in that perfect British upper class style. Did those people really do anything back then or did they just lounge around being wealthy? Knightley is also able to turn everything around in the second half of the movie when she is living on her own and waiting on Robbie. There is a night and day change in her character. I walked into Atonement thinking that Knightley was the one to pay attention to but by the end I was most impressed by McAvoy. Maybe it was because he got to play the injured soldier which means there was a lots of sweating, looking pale, and hallucinating but his performance was top-notch before that even occurred. I don’t know what was better his scene on the beach of Dunkirk or the confrontation between the three main characters at the end of the movie. This was some thoroughly impressive work. The other main character is Briony but 3 separate actresses play her since she starts so young and ends so old. The 13 year-old, Saoirse Ronan, was fine because she never became the annoying child routine. The 18 year-old is portrayed by Romola Garai and she does really good work as the tortured sister trying to make things right. And finally Vanessa Redgrave plays the final version of Briony and well she puts the other 2 to shame. The power of the final scenes mostly comes from how she delivers the final interview.

I just need to make a quick note about the Dunkirk beach scene. The 5-minute tracking shot of Robbie arriving in the middle England's evacuation was powerful. It may not have been necessary for storylines sake but it was incredible to see it pulled off. To watch Robbie walk the length of the beach while getting steadily more desperate over his situation was amazing. It ended up being a nice extra in an already incredible film.

Although Atonement is not the type of movie I anticipate a year in advance, that does not mean it wasn't one of the best films of 2007. It contained an amazing story that was able to hold my attention until the final shoe dropped. On top of that, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy each give one of the best performances of the year. There is not much more to ask for in a movie.

9 out of 10