This is the year of the incomplete, not fully developed film in Hollywood. So many that I've anticipated, even my beloved Bourne film, have opened with a noticeable flaw--a limp here, a limb missing there, a barely noticeable cleft palate that many professional reviewers seem to polite to point out. Eastern Promises was one of them; although beautifully shot and written, it wrongly cast Naomi Watts and failed to develop the father enough. The Bourne Ultimatum played coy with the audience, as if they hated to actually reveal the mystery of Jason Bourne and also wanted to hold enough back to reserve the option of another film. Atonement--compare it to the heft of Gosford park or A Children's Hour--and what you have is a Victorian romance instead of a drama. Kira Knightly substitutes affectation for acting and James Mavgyy suffered from a truncated story line and stingy opportunity for character development. I wonder why Brenda Blethyn was even in this film; her role amounted to about 4 minutes.
It was a pretty movie, but more a spectacular Lifetime film than much else.