Routine Telemovie

Rating: 3/10 (18 February 2008)

Why ATONEMENT is getting such a positive response is baffling. This is the kind of third-rate movie you'd see at midday on TV. Director Joe Wright telegraphs plot twists so early that all dramatic impact is crushed, using certain techniques that are heavy-handed and obvious. Keira Knightley offers yet again a one-note performance, leading the new generation of dull, no-personality actors who manage to create a black hole where there should be a character. James McAvoy fairs better, but his character becomes less interesting as you see clearly where he is going to end up. The ending is so predictable and anti-climatic that you feel the director assumes that the audience is stupid, and unless he hits you over the head with a sledgehammer, you will not understand what is trying to be said. This is the kind of film Merchant/Ivory could have done in their sleep, and even their lesser efforts tower over this half-baked, over-rated film that shows that film-making standards certainly have dropped in recent years.