The Oscar movie of 2008

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2007)

This is Oscar material. Best Picture material to be exact. That's not necessarily saying that "Atonement" is something special. It is a beautiful film based on a very sad novel. Direction and stage design are solid, as are the performances. And that's about the most that can be said about this movie. It's just a classic Oscar contender in the vein of "The Cider House Rules", but doesn't really have many new things to offer conceptually or visually. There's one really masterful long tracking shot in the movie, but actually I thought it was kind of unnecessary, as if it had just been there for the director of photography to show off a bit.
I don't want to sound too negative, though, as this movie is actually very good and totally worthwhile seeing. Still, if you're looking for more original films that came out this year, you'd be better off seeing "Across The Universe" or "Into The Wild".