Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Atonement




Atonement is an older movie. It came out in 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Best Picture Academy Award. It is a good movie. Before I saw it, I totally thought it was going to be right up the same alley as Nicholas Sparks' crap-fest The Notebook because I thought they were both love stories that were set around World War II, but luckily I was wrong.

I was initially confused by the way the story was told, with certain scenes being told again and again with additional information coming into play each time. For a movie set in the 30's and 40's it was a surprisingly modern choice, but I think that it worked very well.

The movie drags from time to time, and introduces new story elements without introducing them properly. I don't think these sins are worth condemning the movie, but they're great enough that I don't know how it got the Best Picture nod. It's a slow, relaxing movie that probably works best late at night.

Atonement ends with a twist that I won't mention even though I know no one will read this blog. I can imagine this is the kind of twist that some will hate, but I really liked it. Probably because it played to my English major sensibilities. It

Cost/Benefit analysis: I didn't pay anything to see this movie, but it is worth a rent, fo sho.

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