A runt of a great flick

Rating: 8/10 (7 December 2007)

"Look," a psychologist tells the man on the couch, "making you happy is out of the question, but I can give you a compelling narrative for your misery."
The Mankoff cartoon appears in the same current issue of the New Yorker in which Anthony Lane drags "Atonement" over the coals, taking it to task for not living up to his expectations: http://tinyurl.com/37xu3a.
I too had some problems with the film, but found Joe Wright's direction and Christopher Hampton's script combining for a thoroughly compelling narrative for the misery of characters, an involving story realized by an outstanding cast.
In fact, against a dismal bunch of competitors in the end-of-year "big releases," I found in "Atonement" only the second four-star movie of 2007. It's firmly No. 2, however, against "Away from Her" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491747/) because its too obvious manipulation of feelings while Sarah Polley's brilliant work is totally straightforward and honest, no strings seen anywhere.
My third and fourth choices are "Easter Promises" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" - two razzle-dazzle examples of guilty pleasure. And, it is true, I missed a good number of screenings (life keeps interfering with the movies), so I may well be missing good candidates from the top of my Top Ten.