When little white lies blow up in your face...

Aaaaaah, Keira Knightley. She hasn't been in all that many films yet, but I think she's slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses on the screen these days. I came out of the closet (owning up to my love of the romantic drama or comedy, not that I'm gay, not that there's anything wrong with that) awhile back and admitted my enjoyment of her last sappy chick flick Pride and Prejudice. Considering she teamed up with director Joe Wright for another go in the movie Atonement, I figured this would be right up my alley.

Cecilia (Keira Knightley) is the eldest daughter of the Tallis family who has an antagonistic relationship with Robbie (James McEvoy), the son of one of the estate's kitchen help. As in most love stories, antagonism really means love, and Robbie chooses to confess his love to Cecilia via a letter during a formal dinner party he was invited to. Thrown in the mix is Cecilia's younger sister Briony, who has a slight crush on Robbie herself. A small mix-up in the letter Robbie has delivered to Cecilia, and the misconceptions of a very young Briony turn what should have been a simple love affair with a happy ending into something completely disasterous for Robbie and his future with Cecilia. Robbie ends up jailed for a crime he didn't commit, and eventually finds himself fighting the Nazis in France as a plea bargain to get out of prison. Meanwhile, Cecilia waits patiently for her love to return from war.

Based on what some call a modern literary classic by Ian McEwan, Atonement is a sweeping story of emotions, perceptions, and heartache. What I thought would be another weepy love story ends up being more a tale of regret. Over the course of events, we watch an older Briony as she recounts what she did in the past, trying to atone for her sins.  The romance angle is somewhat underdeveloped, as it's really just the underpinnings to set up a tragic ending.  Give credit to some great acting by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, though, to get us believing in the passionate love between their characters.  Rather than the drawn out longing of Pride and Prejudice, we get less than the first act of the movie to empathize with what's going on with Cecilia and Robert.  This may be one of the few instances where I thought a steamy sex scene was vital to a movie.

Joe Wright again proves himself to be a fine director, all summed up in a five minute panning one-shot sequence towards the middle of the film that follows Robbie walking the beaches of France while awaiting evacuation with his thousands of other retreating British soldiers in what seems to be limbo on Earth as men devolve into their more basic instincts of survival.  A big pet peeve of movies these days is also answered in this film with a memorable and unique orchestral score that utilizes the clicks of a typewriter as its main instrument.  Who knew you could create so much tension with an old manual Corona portable?

Overall, a fine movie that deserves all the accolades it's received so far from the critics.  Here's hoping for more of Keira Knightley and Joe Wright in the future.