Atonement

New from the desk of The Movie Snob

Atonement (A-). I have never read the novel on which this movie was based, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the heck out of the movie. The movie takes place in three discrete acts. In Act One, we are in 1935 Britain, on the country estate of some well-to-do folks. Keira Knightly (Love Actually) plays Cecilia Tallis, who belongs to the well-to-do family, and James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) plays Robbie Turner, the hard-working son of one of the family's servants who has actually done well for himself at college. It is quickly revealed that the two are passionately in love despite their differences in social rank, and complications ensue due to a single misdeed by Cecilia's 13-year-old sister Briony. To say more about the plot would be a disservice; I will conclude by reporting simply that I was always fascinated by what was happening on the screen and always wondering what would happen next.

Keira Knightley, in a very different movie