Review of Atonement (2007) by Harry W — 03 Feb 2013

Atonement is one of the better romantic drama films because it has a strong dramatically plot and just a genera sense that the characters really love each other. It's also powerful because it plays on dealing with true emotional difficulties if being a teenager and being in love without a ton of fake fantasy elements and glamourization.

The main strength comes from the complexity of the character development and the performances from the main cast.

James McAvoy provides a strong male lead and has a complex male psych in his development which makes him so interesting to the viewer, and the realism comes from the complicated way he expresses his love for Keira Knightly through his unrelenting passion for her, as well as his inability to look away for her breasts or not express his desire to "kiss her c*nt". James McAvoy presents a character with true passion, and of all the soppy romantic dramas out there, its a difficult thing to come across nowadays.

In an equally passionate performance, the gorgeous Keira Knightly presents a good level of heart to her character, as well as charm and sophistication which is immaculate for a film set in it's timeframe and featuring such drama and heat to her relationship with McAvoy that they're just unbelievably convincing as a couple.

In an impressive young performance, Saoirse Ronan manages to capture the innocence of a little girl and complexity of an emotional teenager with flying colours. She presents such strong character development that she massively succeeds at holding her own up against Keira Knightly and James McAvoy, and the character she develops becomes lodged deep in the heart of the character even when played by Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave in their respective skilled performances. But the one that sticks out and makes the film unforgettable is Saoirse Ronan's.

All the characters are decked out in convincing costumes, and along with the convincing settings and beautiful cinematography and lighting, Atonement progresses into a kind of emotional epic that has excellent storytelling elements and succeeds at telling a story with such a complex structure and dramatic elements.

Atonement also features an astounding musical score which really excellently dramatizes the tale which makes it painful to deal with when all the tragic events hit the characters, and therefore the dramatization is enhanced.

I guess the only negative would be that it seems like there could have been more to tell with Atonement but has to be cut short so that a large tragedy could strike, and it's as if that Briony Tallis had learned nothing the whole time. It seems like Atonement had a story that could have been, but was cut short and forced into a tragedy. And as shocking and surprising as it was, I guess I just wanted it to go on for longer because I really enjoyed it.

So to conclude, Atonement was beautiful and heartbreaking like many romantic dramas try to be but commonly fail, and it looks so stunning on the outside and has the depth to hit the viewer hard inside.