Atonement (2007)

This is one of the strangest movies that I have ever seen, I suppose it was an attempt to be artsy, and was one of the most difficult movies to sit through that I have watched in a long time. In Atonement, a seemingly sinister 13 year old alters the course of multiple lives when she falsely accuses her sister's true love of raping a young aristocrat. Once the movie had ended, I found that in retrospect, I was happy to have seen it. However, while I was watching Atonement, I had a very difficulty time enjoying the movie. The acting in this film was not as great as I had expected it to be, given the cast and acclaim. James McAvoy is excellent, but after the movie ended, I realized that the actor himself was not actually in all that much of the film, it was really more of a supporting role. Keira Knightly does a serviceable job, but I am not a huge fan of her talents in general; she always looks like she is leading with her chin. Her character too, does not actually have as significant of an on screen presence as I had expected. To me, the main character in this film is the conniving girl, Briony, who is responsible for the fate that befalls the two lovers. She is played by three different actresses throughout the film, all of whom are excellent. Saoirse Ronan, who plays Briony as a 13 year old, is absolutely amazing. Her portrayal makes this little girl seem to be the epitome of selfishness and evil; the most lingering effect of this film was how deviously that child acted because of how well she was portrayed. I found Atonement difficult to watch for two reasons. First of all, the plot is very heavy and filled with unpleasantness; there is almost nothing to feel happy about. That is just part of the story though, so I cannot blame the director for following the novel. However, the movie skips around in time a lot, which makes it rather difficult to understand what is happening and at what point. Up until the last 5 minutes of Atonement, I would have to say that I was not enjoying it. However, the ending of this film is phenomenal. It brings everything together and clarifies it all. It is devastatingly sad, and makes this movie extremely depressing, but it is very moving and emotionally impacting. My wife and I watched this movie together, and her sentiments echoed mine. Now that I am done watching it, I am glad that I did. It is a really interesting story set in a very dramatic time in Great Britain, and is very complex. As it stands, I would recommend this movie to anyone with the maturity to sit through it, but I will not be watching it again. I give Atonement 3 stars.