FILM: Atonement (cert 15)

Now I know when a film is scheduled for 4.20 p.m. it won't start on the dot - but half an hour later? Good grief! No, I don't need need laser correction surgery or a set of golf clubs and I've been to that restaurant and it's awful. Furthermore I don't need to be threatened with legal action because, as it happens, I am not planning to video the film from seat J26. Let's be clear about this, I haven't driven round the ring road to this god-forsaken clump of sheds, housing third rate pseudo-american eateries and bowling alleys, to be reminded by some cheesy finance advisor that I can put my money worries behind me by paying a single monthly sum, and I'm certainly not going to join Nickelodeon Film Club. I may be mistaken but I don't think many viewers of Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy's Second World War drama will be signing up for exclusive previews of Squarebob Spongepants. What? More films about penguins? I don't believe it. Just show the bloody film I've come to see.

Review: It's a very good movie indeed. Most of the critics focus on Kiera Knightley and pass judgement on her acting ability or lack of it. This is a distraction. One of the super aspects of the piece are the compelling performances of the children in the movie, especially from Saorise Ronan as the young Briony whose adolescent scheming drives the plot through the length of this beautifully shot film. You may have read about the scene on Dunkerque beach. Did the critics over-hype this? No way. It's stunning; I want to see that shot again. Clever use of flashbacks and a compelling denoument from Vanessa Redgrave make this a very satisfying couple of hours.

Any downsides? Well, there are some cliched moments. One scene looks like it's straight out of Cluedo (was it Robbie, in the garden with his chopper?) and sometimes the mannered dialogue is slightly reminiscent of Dame Celia Molestrangler and Binkie Huckaback in "Round The Horne." But don't let that put you off. This is a great piece of move-making and compared to some cert. 15 movies I've seen that should have been cert. 18 (Labyrinth comes to mind), this is not too scary or gruesome - it's a great piece of movie-making. A Light My Fire "A"-list recommendation.