Monday, December 31, 2007

Post-pone Atonement

The Last Amazon has a new mission in life this week.

She is taking me to watch chick flicks and insists she can keep me awake at the same time. Yesterday she took me to watch Atonement. It really is such a novel concept to me to have a daughter old enough to work as I can remember clearly and distinctly bringing her home from the hospital…Anyway, it has to be one of the most deeply dissatisfying movies I have watched in years which includes some horrendous kiddie flics. At least with the kiddie movies, the children had the decency to let me sleep through to the end rather than nudging me awake with a spark poke in the ribs every time I started to nod off.

Visually, the movie is stunning. The period costumes are gorgeous and the cinematography is fabulous. Ditto for the editing and clever sound effects. The actors’ performances are decent per say, and this should be a great movie, but it falls short of even the good mark. The movie suffers from characters whose motives remain entirely ambivalent and psychologically inconsistent. Add in a point of view which shifts around without rhyme or reason.

I haven’t read the novel so I am unsure if the sins of this movie are the result a weak director, screenplay, or just an all around week plot. It is hard for me to believe this movie is based on an actual novel rather than a short story. Either the movie left huge chunks of plot out or a certain publishing house needs to fire an editor or two. The plot has short story written all over it including the gimmicky ending. I admit I am not a big fan of short stories. From the point of view of a reader, short stories are the literary equivalent of an encounter with a premature ejaculator. Need I say more?

The Kiterunner, No Country for Old Men, PS I Love You and I Am Legend still to go. And no I haven’t read those books either.

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