"Atonement" (2007)

The Good:
When I anticipate a film, I usually walk away from my viewing of it disappointed. Since reading Ian McEwan's Atonement this summer, I have been fascinated with this story and it's characters. So naturally I have been hyping up the film beyond measure. Luckily for me, the film did not disappoint one bit. This is by far my favorite adaptation of a novel I have read EVER. Everything that's cut is cut with perfect reason, and everything left works perfectly. The scenes are exactly as I imagined them, and the characters act exactly as I imagined as well.

The acting is top-notch. Keira Knightley plays Cecelia Tallis with such longing and hurt, that an uneasiness forms in your stomach each time she appears on screen. Then there's James McAvoy as Robbie Turner. Mr. McAvoy has basically come from nowhere in the last year to become my favorite working actor today. He impressed in The Last King of Scotland, but he is so incredible in this film, that it's unfortunate there so many other strong male performances this year, because he would surely have been the Lead Actor frontrunner had it been any other year. However, the real great performance in this film is that of Saoirse Ronan in the role of Briony Tallis. This character has so much going on in her head, that I personally felt there's no way it could be adapted well on screen. However, this little actress was absolutely fantastic, and she carried the first half of the film so well, and so believably.

There are two scenes in this film that stick out to me above all others, and they for me turn the film from a good one to a great one. The first is the sex scene between Cecilia and Robbie. So much passion is shown on screen that I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I usually do during long sex scenes. Plus, this scene being such an important part of the film, you as an audience member were wholly engrossed in Cecilia and Robbie's consummation of their love. The second scene is the long tracking shot along the beach during the evacuation of Dunkirk scene. The scene is not only beautiful and completely representative of wartime, but it is so moving that I was brought to tears.

Overall: There are so many amazing moments in this film that easily make it one of the best films I've seen this year, and the best adaptation of a novel I've ever seen. This has easily become one of my favorite films of all time.

A+