ATONEMENT - Movie Review

If you get everything else right, but the story, does it make a good movie? That's the question I was left with after watching sure to be nominated Oscar contender Atonement last night.

The film's plot is basically a British melodrama, most of which you can easily gather from the film's movie trailer. Young Robbie, the gardener, is in love with Cecelia, the lovely young daughter of an aristocratic British family. Cecelia's sister, Briony, is a precocious wanna be writer, who also has a crush on Robbie. One day Briony sees something in the garden between Robbie and her sister that she misinterprets. A series of further misinterpretations follows leading to Briony accusing Robbie of a heinous crime. Robbie is sent to prison, but given an opportunity to clear his name by joining the Army and fighting in France (prior to Dunkirk). He and Cecelia spend the rest of the movie pining for one another while Briony grows up and comes to understand the mistake that she's made. I imagine the book is quite good and I wouldn't mind reading it someday, even knowing what happens.

The film is beautifully made which is both its blessing and its curse. There is some of the most exquisite cinematography in this film that I've seen in a long time, almost David Leanesque (Laurence of Arabia, Bridge on The River Kwai). One shot in particular should earn the film a Best Picture nomination - a nearly fourteen minute long single shot showing three soldiers walking along the beachfront in Dunkirk, filmed with a steadicam. Its a marvel of artistry and direction. Of course, this incredible scene left me thinking one deadly thing about the film, "That was nice, but it really didn't need to be there." The movie is a beautiful thing, but it is also incredibly narcissistic. It knows its beautiful and it can't help admiring itself whenever it gets a chance. Still, for pure artistry, I have not seen a better movie this year.

The biggest problem with the film, however, is probably its script adaption. There are scenes in this film and characters that seem to come out of nowhere, that make no sense whatsoever, and that are not well executed as a result. I'm certain that these scenes are probably in the book and were deemed necessary to the movie without also deeming the material that explained them necessary. For instance, there is a French character that appears about 2/3rds of the way into the film that seems to know Briony and her family, but then gets confused - leaving us wondering who this character is and what the heck he has to do with anything. He is never explained. He serves his "purpose" admirably, but he would have done that just as well had he been a complete stranger. And so we are left with nothing but confusion after this scene. This is simply a case where the script adaption of the book could have been much tighter.

So, the artistry could have been tighter and the narrative could have been tighter and that leaves one person to blame - the Director. I'm sorry. I don't normally heap abuse on Directors (and this is mild abuse at worst) but both of these are areas under the Director's control and responsibility.

Which brings me back to my initial question, can you make a good movie with story problems? I think in this case, yes. Despite its flaws, I found so much to marvel at during the watching that I found myself liking it. The sound design was incredible. The costumes were outstanding. The movie was beautiful to watch. And I did not see the ending coming, which to me is like the cherry on top of a sundae. But I will say that it was close... another half hour and the movie could have been a sequel to The English Patient, or, as I call it, Endless Patience. Overall, I definitely say, check this movie out.