Atonement

Kris and I saw Atonement a few weeks back. I'm really hesitate to write anything about it, but just in case you fall in love with the current marketing campaign and go to see it I wanted to give you the heads up. Films have become so liberal and continue to push the boundaries of marketing in the name of the opening weekend box office dollar. The film starts of stark and confusing. Children are acting much older than their respective ages. Immediately the film evokes the story Great Expectations in my mind while viewing the children speaking about love and their privileged lives.

As soon as James McAvoy appears, women will start realizing the appeal of the film. He commands the screen and makes you think this film is going to be another In Love and War meets Titanic, but the script (if I had read the novel or researched this at all) flips the script so to speak with a one vulgar word. I'm not a prude, but this word was not spoken where you could maybe tune it out for a split second. No, this word was typed very slowly filling the entire screen multiple times. Once the scene is over, I noticed a couple of people leaving the theater. However, in our minds, we thought that has to be it. They wouldn't keep this up. Then, the letter falls in the hands of the younger sister and chaos ensues. It was silent in the theater. The pit of your stomach drops...

However, as soon as the accusations and the actual action that the entire movie pivots upon, the story changes into a more traditional love story (think: Doctor Zhivago). Every shot of the film could have been printed and hung in a NYC gallery. The story is drawn out, but there is a pay-off which in the end actually has you questioning everything you saw. I’m not encouraging anyone to see this already award-winning film, but just know what you are getting into before buying the ticket.