Atonement
Academy Award × 1
Rent/Purchase
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
What critics thought
Atonement earned widespread critical admiration for Joe Wright's direction and its fidelity to McEwan's novel, but the dissenting voices are worth heeding: a handful of serious critics felt the film loses its grip once the story leaves the Tallis estate, with the second half struggling to connect the characters' fates to the larger historical sweep. James McAvoy drew near-universal praise and is widely credited with holding the film together; opinion on Keira Knightley ranged from strong to serenely bland depending on the reviewer.
“Atonement is a film out of balance, nimble enough in its first-half but oddly scattered and ungainly once it leaves the grounds of the Tallis estate”
Christopher Orr·The Atlantic
“Mr. McAvoy and Ms. Knightley sigh and swoon credibly enough, but they are stymied by the inertia of the filmmaking, and by the film's failure to find a strong connection between the fates of the characters and the ideas and historical events that swirl around them.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“everything a true lover of literature and movies could possibly hope for”
Rex Reed·The New York Observer
“preserves much of the tome's metaphysical depth and all of its emotional power”
Variety
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorJoe Wright
StarringJames McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave
ComposerDario Marianelli
Atonement
Academy Award × 1
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
What critics thought
Atonement earned widespread critical admiration for Joe Wright's direction and its fidelity to McEwan's novel, but the dissenting voices are worth heeding: a handful of serious critics felt the film loses its grip once the story leaves the Tallis estate, with the second half struggling to connect the characters' fates to the larger historical sweep. James McAvoy drew near-universal praise and is widely credited with holding the film together; opinion on Keira Knightley ranged from strong to serenely bland depending on the reviewer.
“Atonement is a film out of balance, nimble enough in its first-half but oddly scattered and ungainly once it leaves the grounds of the Tallis estate”
Christopher Orr·The Atlantic
“Mr. McAvoy and Ms. Knightley sigh and swoon credibly enough, but they are stymied by the inertia of the filmmaking, and by the film's failure to find a strong connection between the fates of the characters and the ideas and historical events that swirl around them.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“everything a true lover of literature and movies could possibly hope for”
Rex Reed·The New York Observer
“preserves much of the tome's metaphysical depth and all of its emotional power”
Variety
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorJoe Wright
StarringJames McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave
ComposerDario Marianelli
Rent/Purchase