Atonement Review

A prepubescent and precocious girl witnesses words and actions that are sexual in nature. She does not understand what she sees, and never bothers to ask for an explanation. As a consequence, she jumps to the wrong conclusion about someone she has known all her life. Further, that conclusion proves to be costly to all involved. The girl grows into a woman, understands that moment in its proper perspective, and spends her life trying to right that wrong.

The majority of the movie Atonementtakes place in England and France in the time period from 1935 through 1940. A thirteen-year-old girl named Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronin) prides herself on her writing, as well as on her judgment of character. One summer day, on the estate of her wealthy parents, she sees an argument between her sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), and her boyfriend, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). Robbie is the son of one of the Tallis servants. He has worked for the family in the hopes of getting into the medical school with some help from Cecilia and Briony's parents. During the exchange of harsh words, Cecilia goes into a fountain to retrieve an object. She emerges in a state of drenched exposure. After the dispute, Robbie goes home to get ready for a formal dinner at the estate, and to compose a letter of apology to Cecilia. He throws out several drafts of the apology before he's satisfied with his choice of words. However, he puts a draft meant to be disposed into an envelope. Robbie then compounds the mistake by entrusting the ever curious Briony to deliver it. Briony, given her nature, reads it first, and begins to think even worse of Robbie. When Cecilia reads it, she is far more amused about the writing than anyone else, but she becomes upset with her little sister for opening it. In addition to Robbie and the Tallis family, the guests include three young cousins, as well as Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch), a friend and business associate of the oldest Tallis sibling, Leon Tallis (Patrick Kennedy).

Things grow worse during the course of the evening. The Tallis's young twin cousins get bored with their visit to the estate, and make a rash decision to run away. Everyone gets involved in a search for the boys when they realize the youngsters have gone missing. During the search, Briony sees another young cousin, Lola Quincey (Juno Temple), in a compromising position that may or may not be consensual. Briony convinces a shaken Lola, who had had her eyes covered during the incident, that the only person at the house who could have done that to her was Robbie. Lola knows otherwise, but never tells what she knows to Briony. Based almost exclusively on Briony's eyewitness account, Robbie is arrested. In time, he is convicted of rape and sent to prison, even though it seems clear he was far from the scene of the incident that involved Lola. Four years later, he is released on one condition. Robbie must enlist in the Army and serve in combat in World War II. He is sent to the French front, where the Nazis have already inflicted heavy casualties. Before he goes to battle at Dunkirk, he sees Cecilia, who has become estranged from her family and has taken work among those preparing for the battles. When they briefly reunite in London, Robbie promises to return. Eighteen-year-old Briony (Romola Garai) is also in London, where she has taken up study to become a nurse. She is still writing, and attempting to make some sort of amends with her sister. More than sixty years later, a dying Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), publishes an account of these efforts. She tells a television interviewer (Anthony Minghella) that she has finally found the words to atone in the pages of this novel. As a result of her illness, Briony also announces that this novel will be her last.

Atonement, which is based on a work by Ian McEwen, is a compelling story about perception and privilege. Of all of the guests at the Tallis home on that fateful evening, Robbie is the only one who does not come from a world of affluence. Because she does not understand adult actions from an adult perspective, Briony, therefore, assumes that Robbie is some sort of sexual deviant. When she finds Lola on the ground, Briony concludes the only formally-clad man who could have dared to do that to her cousin was her sister's boyfriend. The film version of Atonement,though, leaves questions unanswered with regards to the Tallis family. Why did they not take a more active part in the police investigation with regard to their daughters? Did the parents believe that Briony was more trustworthy than the more mature Cecilia? If Mr. and Mrs.Tallis were ultimately disappointed in the alleged actions of Robbie, they should have been disturbed with their girls as a result of what was said. The parents, though, never bothered to sort out the accounts of Briony and Cecilia.

I also fail to see any true measure of atonement in Atonement. The concluding portion of Atonementis as weak is the beginning is strong. If Briony had sought some true form of atonement, she would have made a career of the medical profession, for she denied Robbie that opportunity with her allegations. Instead, she made writing a primary career instead of a secondary one. The written words from her that served as an apology seem romantic and trite. Her TV confession is entirely self-serving, and is as upsetting as the actions she took - and failed to take- in her youth. While I accept that Briony had to live her life for herself, she forgot an important life rule - actions speak louder than words. She created a life that never was, with a happy ending that is just as artificial. Briony knows she committed a grievous error that cannot be undone. The least she could have done was to share of herself instead. The ending of Atonement was as big of a disappointment for me as the ending of I Am Legend. The situations that are introduced in both movies did not lead to logical conclusions, as far as I'm concerned. Had director Joe Wright or scenarist Christopher Hampton found a way to better address my key concerns, I would have recommended this movie more highly than I do.

Still, Wright displays an excellent eye for details and equally excellent performances. The Oscar-nominated Ronin is equally cold, arrogant, and naive as the little know-it-all Briony. Even as she prepares a play that she wants to perform for the family with the help of her cousins, Briony shows she wants her cousins to do things her way or no way at all. The cousins eventually become bored with Briony, and opt for the latter. Briony uses words to both express herself and to manipulate others. When she grows older, she understands the extent of the mistakes she has made, but she can never make her errors right by the people she has wronged. Knightley and McAvoy are among the best British actors who are in their twenties. The chemistry displayed by their characters is undeniable. Robbie and Cecilia may have been raised in different economic environments, but they have grown up together, and have also grown quite fond of one another. They have fights, but they also know how to make things right by each other later. Even when prison and war separate them, they carry every bit of that devotion to each other with them. Strong support comes from the rest of the cast, especially Redgrave as the oldest incarnation of Briony and Brenda Blethyn as Robbie's mother, Grace Turner.Grace the one person besides Cecelia who is convinced from the start that Robbie did not do what Briony has alleged.

It is entirely possible that World War II would have separated Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner. However, it is very likely that Robbie would have been assigned to do a different type of fighting than armed combat. Perception and reality are not always one in the same thing, and that notion is proved correct by a heartbreaking decision. As a result, Robbie loses a potential career opportunity, as well as much more. Atonementhas its heart in the right place, but its head is in the wrong place. If Briony had dedicated her life to the type of service that Robbie and her sister had wanted to follow, the movie would have been a testament to their sacrifices that they proved they would willingly make. Atonement, instead, has an ending that is as idealistic and as self-serving as the people Briony knew as a girl. When suspicions arose, Robbie no longer mattered to most of the Tallis family. One can only hope Briony Tallis knows and  makes use of prayers of atonement, for she surely knows the words she has used and the actions she has taken have never been enough.

Portions of this review first appeared on Epinions in February 2008.