Atonement - 9.0

I've waited a few days to review Atonement since I saw it, partly because I'm lazy but also to see if my enthusiasm for it has died down at all ... it hasn't. It's a pretty amazing movie that I briefly considered giving a perfect 10 before I made up a new reviewing rule that I can't give 10s to movies upon first viewing. Anyways, Atonement's set-up of a falsely accused young man being torn away from his love and sent off to World War II reminded me of a cross between The English Patient and Cold Mountain, it really did seem like Anthony Minghella belonged behind the camera for this one. But parallels to those two Minghella epics mostly ended there as Atonement went in different directions and did different things than either of those two (very good) films could have dreamed of. Atonement speaks to the power of jealousy and the imagination and is an extraordinarily powerful story. It starts off in a pretty straightforward fashion but when an argument between the two soon to be lovers Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy) is seen through a window by Cecilia's little sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) and then in the next scene the same 'argument' is shown from Cecilia and Robbie's points of view, you know this film is different. This particular scene is crucial as it gives the viewer a glimpse into how Briony could becomes confused by what she is seeing. As the movie progresses, imagined moments and real-life are seamlessly intertwined as the plot continues to effortlessly shift through time until finally concluding with one of the best endings to a movie in recent years. The story is so good, this was always going to be a good movie as long as nobody screwed up too much. But instead of just not messing it up, the main players in Atonement raised their games to the level of the material. The production is superb - the upper class '30s British family life and the World War II scenes feel equally authentic. The pacing is perfect and some of the shots are breathtaking. In particular, there is one 5 minute long shot (with not a single cut) of the British army's retreat in northern France that is worthy of a masterpiece. To top it all off, the acting in general is brilliant while Keira Knightley and James McAvoy both turn in virtuoso performances. I really can't think of a single thing this movie didn't do well. There are a lot of movies I'm looking forward to seeing before the end of the year (I'm Not There, Juno, There Will Be Blood, Charlie Wilson's War, among others) but I'll be shocked if anything knocks Atonement off its lofty perch as my #1 movie of 2007. Oscar Outlook This movie is certainly good enough, and has the hype, to be nominated in all the big categories. A Best Picture nomination seems to be a lock, as do Best Director and Adapted Screenplay (not to mention a bunch of other smaller categories like cinematography, costume design, art direction, etc). As for the acting categories, three actors seem to have a chance at nominations, Keira Knightley for Best Actress, James McAvoy for Best Actor, and Saoirse Ronan for Best Supporting Actress. Knightley looks like a good bet to get nominated and perhaps challenge for a win, while the other two's nominations look to be more up in the air. The Academy seems to like when child and teenage actors give adult performances, so this should help Ronan, as does the quality of the overall film. McAvoy's performance is certainly Oscar-worthy but he has stiff competition with Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) a lock for one spot, and Denzel Washington (American Gangster), George Clooney (Michael Clayton), and Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) all looking like good bets for nominations as well. So assuming he can't knock off any of those 4, McAvoy will be left fighting every other good performance from this year for the last spot, obviously a tough situation to overcome. Predictions Best Picture win - period piece, epic nature, overall quality of the film scream Best Picture Best Direction nomination - Joe Wright, only 35 making his 2nd film, loses to one of his more experienced counterparts Best Actress nomination - Knightley will get nominated but won't win Best Supporting Actress nomination - same thing for Ronan Best Adapted Screenplay nomination - loses out to No Country for Old Men in this category Best Actor snub - the 4 established stars listed above all get nominations while the 5th comes out of left field, like Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson last year