Atonement

R | 2hrs 03min | Drama
Produced by Paul Webster, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Written by Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan
Directed by Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave, Brenda Blethyn
Official Website

Trailers:
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One of the best movies we've seen in a long time. Vanessa Redgrave never ceases to give a brilliant performance. See this one a second time...

This movie was very sad, but an epic love story. To sum it all up the little girl Briony tells on a man that her sister is in love with for raping her devastated cousin. He gets sent away and so she has to always live with the fact that she destroyed her sister's and that man's love, and she is left with guilt forever.

This film is almost as beautiful as the book. James and Kiera are, as always, flawless. I can not imagine anyone better suited to portray Robbie and Cecilia.

In a word, Breathtaking. The cinematography was amazing, lush and contributed so much to the story - as it should have. As for the Musical Score, it was the first time that I have heard such a gorgeous score become a part of the film by reaching up and "touching" one of the characters at it helpd the story forward. Rather than the usual underscoring that movie music tends to be, the music helped to create the character and the scene, then became part of it. Brilliant. I will be shocked if this film does not take home a few Oscars for Cinematography and music alone. As for the story, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE BOOK FIRST. It makes the film experience so much more enlightening than viewing the movie "cold." I realize some would argue that movies should stand on their own, but really this is an extension of a beautifully written sroty. I encourage you to enjoy both - first the book then movie for an unforgettable literary experience.

I feel like the previous review was incredibly harsh for a film that was wonderfully filmed and well acted. I have just seen it and usually wait a few weeks to know fully how I feel about a film, to see what resonates, but I can already say that it was one that has some memorable cinematography as well as one that invokes emotions out of the viewer. After watching it, my friends and I wondered why we always have to wait until the end of the year to see all of the great movies.

TWO HOURS AND THREE MINUTES of pure TORTURE...When Vanessa Redgrave appeared it reminded me of the feeling I had when the doctor said "push" during childbirth ...yes, it will be OVER soon...THERE IS A MERCIFUL GOD...This stuff should NOT make it in front of a "paying audience"...The whole thing fell hopelessly flat. You are supposed to buy into some stupid story about a narcissistic child whose over active imagination sets off a chain of events that shatter the lives of those in her powerful path. In the end we a supposed to believe that same although matured, self indulgent imagination makes it "all better". ZZZZZZZZZZZZ "hang me with a fresh rope"zzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz...ther e all better;o)