Atonement

A precocious 13-year-old girl accuses her sister’s lover of a crime he didn’t commit and forever changes all their lives in the process.

Atonement is a very well produced, well-acted story that works largely do to a knockout ending.

The performers are all great. Keira Knightley and James McAvoy are both charming as the leads, carrying their roles on sheer charisma, as we learn very little about their characters. Supporting them, Saoirse Ronan is near perfect as Knightley’s character’s younger sister aged 13, and Romola Garai is even better as the same character aged 18, while Vanessa Redgrave makes the movie with her utterly moving, gut-punch performance.

For his part, director Joe Wright delivers some stunning visuals, including a four and half-minute tracking shot that’s simply amazing, though he does tend to linger on other shots a bit too long, as if he’s waiting for the audience to grasp the significance of the image. The result is a film that seems simultaneously too long and too short.

Atonement is an epic story and only so much can make it into the film’s two hour running time. Keira Knightley’s and James McAvoy’s characters are the biggest victims. You feel for them, and want to see them happy, but you never feel like you know them. If it weren’t for the film’s superb ending, this would be fatal flaw.

But what an ending it is. The whole film builds toward a payoff Vanessa Redgrave delivers with absolute perfection. The only shortcoming is Wright’s depiction of Knightley’s character’s ultimate fate, which, given his spectacular handling of McAvoy’s is underwhelming. The imagery used is nothing new and echoes back to dozens of films before. This, along with his decision not to end the film with Redgrave is ultimately what makes Atonement a very good film, but not a great one.