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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: superb. one of the top films of 2007
Comment: This is an exceptionally strong movie. The acting is superb across the board, the craft in the sets
and locations magnificant, and the story simple, yet proficiently told, with one of the most
poignant endings delivered bt Vanessa Redgrave.

My only criticism would be the
gratuitous 5 minute steady-cam Dunkerque shot in the middle of the film. It was unnecessary
posturing - the director had done more than enough to prove his mettle without throwing in that sort
of bravado, showy stuff. Films like "Snake Eyes" rely on those sort of stunts as there's not enough
going on in the film. This movie is more than strong enough without such cinematographical
arm-flexing. See it, its wonderful.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Very Good Adaptation
Comment: Following the success of Pride and Prejudice, director Joe Wright brings to the screen a far more
ambitious literary adaptation of the best selling and critically acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan,
Atonement.

The film follows the effects of a lie by a young, imaginative girl
Briony, played impressively in her first major screen role by Saoirse Ronan, on her, her sister
Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and the Housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy). It begins in a large
country house in an England approaching the brink of war. Here we see the beginning of a romance
between Cecilia and Robbie. The first signs of this blossoming romance are witnessed by us and
Briony from a distance and it is the beginning of a misunderstanding that leads to tragedy. Far from
being a standard period drama as some, including myself, may expect prior to viewing, Atonement
establishes itself as an excellent film that manages to stay loyal to the novel whilst still
exploiting all its cinematic potential. Joe Wright demonstrates his skill in storytelling and brings
his own artistic slant to the tale establishing himself as the highly skilled director his previous
film only hinted at.

The world we are immersed into is convincingly created, a
country naively living before the most devastating war in history. The costumes are authentic as is
the dialogue, exemplified when the boring names of English war foods are ridiculed. Keira Knightley
gives one of her best performances to date as the beautiful posh girl with the tough exterior and
James McAvoy follows on from his Last King of Scotland success with a solid, if slightly plain
performance as Robbie the working class man living with the aristocracy. The chemistry between the
two is appropriately understated as they attempt to hang on to their few precious moments together
through long periods of separation.

The atmosphere in the opening scenes is
languid but there is an underlying sense of doom as the events unravel and Wright excels as a
director as he manipulates the audience with clever narrative techniques. As the film continues his
style becomes more standard, however the standout scene of the film is on the beaches of the Dunkirk
retreat. It is brilliantly shot as we follow Robbie and his two companions in a swirling walk around
the activity surrounding them. The hope and despair of the war sick men is portrayed perfectly in
this scene, as a shocking moment where the horses are shot in the head due to the inability to
transport them is contrasted by a group of singing men who demonstrate the power of the human will
in the face of adversity. I found it refreshing to see a war film that didn't resort to a battle to
provide its thrills and this scene is easily as spectacular and effective at showing the effects of
war as the Omaha landings in Saving Private Ryan. Despite there not being any set-piece battle
sequences, the horrors of war are still shown in a scene in the hospital where the horrendous
injuries of the soldiers are uncomfortably forced upon the viewer.

The ending is
masterfully crafted and the twist is successful because it provides the audience with both of the
possible endings, either of which on their own would not have been particularly satisfactory on
their own. Vanessa Redgrave gives the standout performance as the old Briony as she recalls the life
changing events. Also the idea of authorship is cunningly played with as the film questions the
adequacy of its own ending.

Customer Rating:

Summary: 3 1/2 Stars: Lies
Comment: When the luminous Vanessa Redgrave as Briony, the elderly woman who seeks atonement throughout this
film, takes the screen at the very end of "Atonement," this film finally makes sense, catches fire,
and becomes thoughtful and meaningful. Redgrave adds Weight to the proceedings: something sorely
lacking in this "Epic" love story.
With that being said, I found "Atonement" a very beautiful
and stunningly produced film. For once, the shifting between time periods and between the lives of
Briony (as a child, as a young woman and as an elderly woman), Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie
(James McAvoy: finally coming into his own with this subtle, heartfelt performance) is not a
problem, does not confuse but instead adds texture, friction and verisimilitude: this is a film of
remembrance after all...of events, reactions and situations recalled by Briony at various stages of
her life: a life seemingly dedicated to righting a wrong from her young life.
In fact,
"Atonement" is a film of penance. A film about a Mistake, a Misinterpretation, a film about a
child's misplaced, unwanted and unwarranted love gone awry. Director Joe Wright ("Pride and
Prejudice") carefully even reverentially directs this material which in several ways reminds me of
Lillian Hellman's "The Children's Hour" in that a child is at the center of a controversy and her
words literally cause big problems for an adult. Oddly enough Briony and Mary in "TCH" are both of a
so-called "elevated" social class while the object of their invective is not. Wright should have
mined this conflict between classes a lot more than he does. As it is, it is dropped and instead
"Atonement" becomes less than what it could have been.
McAvoy's Robbie, though from simple
beginnings, is obviously meant for great things. His mentor is Cecelia's father and he is off to
Cambridge very soon after the film begins. McAvoy plays him with just the right amount of
bragadaccio and humility: he knows he's smart, he knows that he is a star yet he knows his
place...at least for the time being. Knightley's performance is more problematic. Her reactions
sometimes smack of something akin to that of an American high school cheerleader in their lack of
depth and feeling.
But, no one can deny the sexual heat that she and McAvoy produce in their
terrific scenes together. You truly believe that these two could/can/would bed each other: the
penultimate scene of Cecelia and Robbie in the Tallis estate library both clawing at each other like
two cats in heat... reeks of musk, bristling stiff starched clothing and silk underwear. />"Atonement" then is not a complete success but instead is an example of lost opportunities on the
one hand and of a director adhering too close to the source material on the other. Despite all of
this, this is a film of uncommon physical beauty. If only the thought processes behind this film
could have matched or surpassed the physical concerns we would have had a major triumph here. As it
is, "Atonement" is merely a good not a great film.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Don't hesitate, watch it.
Comment: I have never read/nor heard of the book, so when I was dragged to the cinema to watch this film and
thought I was in for a period drama girlie film. I left the cinema feeling I had just watched one of
the best films I have ever seen.

The scene at dunkirk is the most touching, haunting
and beautiful piece of cinematography I have ever seen and wonder how any film could ever better it.
Wonderful film.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A superb interpretation of a brilliant novel...
Comment: Novels don't come much better written or more complex than Ian McEwan's "Atonement" - a
multi-layered, deeply thought provoking and beautifully structured exploration of the impact of
human frailty on the lives of others, the nature of perception and misperception and, ultimately,
the power of an author to make you believe that figments of their imaginations are in someway
"real". So how on earth do you transfer this level of complexity to the screen?

Well,
in this case, wholly successfully. Through beautiful cinema-photography, spot-on casting, a clever &
brilliantly tense soundtrack, flawless screenplay that fully captures and, in parts, enhances the
"feel" of McEwan's writing and, above all, direction of the highest quality that manages to recreate
the atmosphere and twists & turns of the story, the film is as gripping, moving and reflective as
the book. And the weaknesses? Only one... the reconstructions of Dunkirk and the soldiers' trek to
it are too stylised and self-conscious and, as result, fail to reflect the bleakness and horror that
McEwan projects. Which is a great shame as it's one of the novel's most evocative sections, but
then, on the plus side, this is offset by a re-working of its closing scenes which is perfectly in
tune with, but even more moving than the original.

All-in-all a superb interpretation
of a brilliant novel... some feat and great credit to all those involved.

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