Disappointing and cold.

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2008)

ATONEMENT has received it's fair share of acclaim and awards over the last few months, but I am sadly not one of it's fans. Granted, the book is one of the most sought-after reads in recent years and was bound to become a contender for the big-screen, but the result doesn't quite pan out as well as it should.
Before I continue, I must stress that Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Joe Wright are immensely talented individuals who deserve their success and should go onto more success and awards in time, but on this occasion, I have to be honest and say that ATONEMENT is not one of their best works.
Having not read the book, but reliably informed that it is not a straightforward read and plays out a lot of information in the minds of the characters (a think, not tell mentality), factors like this were always going to be a major concern. Irrespective of whether one reads a book or not, when it comes to adapting it for the big-screen, the audience and their impression have to be clear in the mind of the film-makers.
The problem is that there is not enough emotional involvement with the three main characters and I increasingly as the film progressed felt that the movie was stalling. Cecilia and Briony both come across as spoilt socialites and the actual crime is not sufficiently fleshed out to carry the story through. When James McAvoy's character goes off to Dunkirk (in an admittedly spectacular sequence that seems strangely out of place) there is no realisation amongst his fellow soldiers of the crime he has been accused of, bearing in mind that military folk are a bit more uncompromising than some.
Possibly the most galling thing for me was that just at the time when the film seems to get going, the climax of the film then says that the last 20 minutes on screen didn't happen. I felt robbed of it's emotional core and like other films that have done that (THE SIXTH SENSE) this is the biggest sin any film-maker can commit.