"Atonement" is an epic, wildly romantic period drama. It is a project with fantastic actors, a great screenplay, an innovative director and pitch-perfect photography.
The story starts in an English country house one hot summer. Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), an imaginative 12 year-old is busy finishing her first play and trying desperately to get someone to act it out or even listen to her. Her older sister Cecilia is walking through the house not noticing anyone, especially not Briony, busy thinking about the housekeeper's son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), who is obviously in love with her. A series of unfortunate events leads Briony to jealously tell a lie - a lie that will bring utter unhappiness to all three characters. Once separated, we follow these three through World War II, and watch as the story unfolds into unexpected directions.
There is no real star of "Atonement" - everyone, absolutely everyone involved in the project is pitch-perfect. Be it young Briony, played with perfection by the newcomer Ronan - her performance is so natural, yet complex, she single-handedly draws you into the movie during the first few minutes. Knightley and McAvoy are a couple perfect for this kind of movie ("Atonement" is, after all, the most romantic film of the year), sharing that old Hollywood glamour that has recently been forgotten - Knightley's Cecilia is your regular romantic heroine, especially during the intense, early scenes at the mansion, when she slides around in a silky green dress, detached from the environment by her own beauty and attitude. McAvoy, on the other hand, brings an emotional performance that we like to see in our romantic heroes.
The movie features one strong, emotional scene after another. Everything is backed up by an amazing soundtrack - rarely do I remember them, but this one was so original and powerful, with the typewriter beating differently in different scenes... "Atonement" is an old-fashioned, flat out romance, and it's pretty spectacular!