Something was missing...

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2008)

I have spent the last 60 minutes reading other comments and I still haven't found one I totally agree with. Did I like the film? Of course I did. Did I surrender to it? No, unfortunately not and I even feel a bit lost because I wish I had. Maybe the whole problem lies in the fact that I loved the book so much. I remember feeling at one time inspired, overwhelmed, enraged, frustrated...while reading it. I remember hating Briony so much for what she had done that I almost felt like leaving the book unfinished because I couldn't bear the way it was going to end. And when I decided to watch the film I guess I was expecting to get all that magic back, but the magic only lasted for about 40 minutes. The first part of the film really corresponds to the image I kept in my mind, but then the poetic atmosphere sort of fades away. The performances are excellent although I must say I prefer Keira in Pride and Prejudice, but McAvoy proved to be an actor with a lot to give. The way McEwan's novel was adapted is also beyond reproach, so I guess it's my own fault that at the end of the film I was feeling as if something was missing.