Keira Knightley Movie:

		List Price: $39.98		Label: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Salesrank: 13231 Released: March 18, 2008
		Our Price: $22.21
		Used Price: $20.43
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: HD DVD

Editorial Review:
From the award-winning director of Pride & Prejudice comes a stunning critically acclaimed epic story of love. When a young girl catches her sister in a passionate embrace with a childhood friend her jealousy drives her to tell a lie that will change the course of all their lives forever. Academy Award® nominee Keira Knightley and James McAvoy lead an all-star cast in the film critics are calling "the year's best picture" (Thelma Adams US Weekly).System Requirements:Running Time: 123 minutesFormat: DVD HD Genre: DRAMA/HISTORICAL EPIC Rating: R UPC: 025195011815 Manufacturer No: 61101375

Description of Atonement (HD DVD and DVD Combo) [HD DVD]:
Director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) gives Ian McEwan’s bestselling novel a sumptuous treatment for the screen that should come to be regarded as one of the defining films of the epic romantic drama. Indeed, everything about this film stems from those three words: there is little here that is not epic, romantic, and dramatic, and Atonement is a film that masterfully expresses the overarching sense of adventure and emotion that such stories are meant to convey. In this instance, the story centers around the love story of highborn Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and housekeeper’s son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy, in a star-making turn), in England shortly before World War II. Despite their class differences, they are powerfully attracted to each other, and just as their relationship begins Robbie is tragically forced away due to false accusations from Cecilia’s younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan). She has a crush on Robbie, too, and after reading a! private letter he sent to Cecilia, and then witnessing the first expression of their mutual love but mistaking it for mistreatment, her resentment grows until it leads to her telling the lie that will send Robbie away. Soon World War II breaks out; Robbie enlists and is posted to France, Cecilia is a nurse in London, and Briony, now age 18 and aware of what she has done, tries to atone for her actions--but none of them will be able to get back what they have lost. Knightley and McAvoy are perfectly cast as the young star crossed lovers, and the young Ronan is particularly impressive, but it’s clear that the real star of this film is the director. Wright allows Atonement to revel in every moment of its story and each scene is compelling in its own way, but that now famous extended shot with Robbie on the beach at Dunkirk--filmed in one take and sure to be considered one of the great long tracking shots in film history--is the most memorable moment in this remarkable ! film. Atonement is an excellent example of what can hap! pen when a great book meets great filmmaking. This is one that is not to be missed. --Daniel Vancini

Stills from Atonement (click for larger image).

Atonement (HD DVD and DVD Combo) [HD DVD] Reviews:
A very good movie
2008-09-06 - A very good movie with a lot of "could be moments" and in which one can learn from.

Atonement
2008-09-02 -
We recieved the dvd sooner than the date specified on the recept. It arived in great condition and we enjoyed the movie.

Moves the viewer through personal experiences of intense longing mixed with bitter misunderstanding.
2008-08-31 - Based upon the lies and misunderstanding of a young, unhappy, girl who seems to long for a dramatic life of her own, her older sister and her lover are betrayed. The young girl, completely ignorant of the intent and nature of her sister's relationship with a servant's son, vengefully lies, blaming the boy with molesting a young female family member. Set in the backdrop of WWII, the young lovers are separated when the boy is imprisoned for his alleged crime, being released only to fight in the war.
His love (Keira Knightly), working as a nurse, meets him only briefly during the war, but they re-declare their love and promise to meet. Promises, however, are broken by circumstance, and the lies and accusations of a young sister irrevocably change the lives of everyone.

Cinematically Great
2008-08-29 - This movie was placed high on my list of "I want to see that" simply because I like Keira Knightley's work. She adapts herself to her roles brilliantly.

When the movie opened in pre-WWII England and we are invited into the mansion that serves as the backdrop I thought we would be treated to another boring film about class distinction. Class distinction, yes; boring, maybe. The cinematography on this film is beautiful. However, seeing the same scene replayed from different viewpoints seemed to me a bit overdone. Perhaps that worked in the novel but on the screen it slowed down the story line.

There are various twists and turns to the story and if you haven't read the book you may become confused. Until the very end, that is. When the wonderful Vannessa Redgrave takes over as Briony near the end of the film, that is when everything we've seen begins to make sense. A wrapping up of the loose story lines that seemed to flounder once the romance has gone awry.

Revel if you will in this movie's wonderful acting by a superb cast, perfectly recreated period scenes, and grand cinematography. As with every epic movie there is a message or moral here: life isn't always fair.

I am giving this movie four stars because of the multiple views of scenes - a couple of people who watched this movie with me came away saying that it was confusing to them. I tend to agree although once I figured out what the director was doing it was easier to follow.

Excellent but not 5 of 5.
2008-08-27 - Overall a very good movie. I didn't give a full five count for a few reasons. At first I thought the director was a little indulgent in making the mansion too much of a character in the film. I got the point of wealth early on, but the theme may have been trodden down a bit with the endless walking through the hallways. Next, it's been a while since I was in Britain and I found myself turning on the English subtitles in order to understand the dialog. The actors, especially Keira Knightley who plays the older sister Cecelia, talked entirely too fast. I have been in the conversations of aristocrats while in England and their manner is slow and deliberate, not speedy. I guess we're to surmise her younger years and impetuousness precipitates her very rapid conversation. I literally timed one sentence that was two full lines long spouted in about half a second...quite irritating. So much so, I turned off the movie and watched at a later time when the house was quiet and I could put on my headphones to listen. Next, and no fault of the movie, the plot. Nothing rubs me wrong more than an unjustly convicted perpetrator. I have lost count of how many times I've watched movies and TV shows where we know the hero has been locked up for a crime he didn't do. And, finally, as in all British movies, the pace was a little tedious. Watching the special features tells me the director was conscious of this and cut a few scenes to keep the main story alive. So, I guess by British standards, it was fast.

Now the things I liked. Some excellent performances by Knightley (save for the rapid lips) and McAvoy. The intensity was real and not contrived. And I liked how the director kept the intensity and theme with the use of the typewriter sounds in synch with the music and movement of Briony. The cinematography was excellent, especially the 5-minute walk-through of the chaos on Dunkirk beach. This was real epic film making with very few special effects. The director used some 1000 local extras to make it happen. Finally, although I haven't read the book, I was led to believe that the screenplay was rewritten to follow the book as closely as possible. This materialized into several flashbacks which could have been confusing until it was nicely rapped up with Vanessa Redgrave as the 77-year old Briony explaining the meaning of the novel "she wrote."

This is not a feel good movie, so don't expect your typical chick flick happily ever after ending. DO expect to be drawn into the story through some convincing performances, a well written screenplay, and beautiful cinematography.