4 of 19

Write now Article Tools

After paying money to the Hollywood blockbuster machine for the dubious honour of watching some of its latest travesties, I thought redemption might be found in this very worthy adaptation of Ian McEwan's fine novel. Surely we've all done this at some point, deliberately picking a "critically acclaimed" movie to watch in order to enforce our superiority over those cinema bumpkins who crowd the lines for the latest fart comedy. Sometimes these plans backfire - the plebs who watched Sandler & Co probably at least got to laugh once or twice for their money, while you might have spent three hours counting the various colours of your M&Ms in fear of actually engaging with whatever was happening on screen.

Luckily Atonement offers no such opportunities for distraction by chocolate. Every scene demands attention, more so after the excellent narrative twist is revealed. I found myself admiring its work hours after the final moments had played out. At the core of this movie is a tale of redemption, but it is also concerned with those age-old concepts of love and death, and the power they exert over us. McAvoy gives a fine immersive performance in the leading role, while Kiera Knightly is both impossibly beautiful and believable as a highborn nurse. Her sister and the film's protagonist is played by a variety of actresses, all of whom add something to this wonderfully sad story. It affected me so much that afterward I laboured to explain its few flaws, not to anyone else but to myself. A movie deserving of notions of superiority.

Learn more about this author, Robert Feeney.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Movie reviews: Atonement - Golden Globe's best drama of 2007?
We want to hear your view. Write now!