Visually Stunning; But Uneven in "Feel"

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2008)

The first twenty minutes of Atonement are perfect. They play like a well crafted character drama centered around the brilliant young actress, Saoirse Ronan. This first act is beautifully shot with a perfect musical score by Dario Marionelli. Then, out of nowhere, I suddenly found myself watching a war movie. The movie suddenly seemed to neglect its romantic feel and became instead a grisly depiction of injured soldiers and long journeys through swamps. Thankfuly, after about a half hour, the film moved back to its initial format, but I was still left with a bad aftertaste from that sudden jerk to another genre.