Atonement (2007)

I was wandering through the library shelves when I picked up Ian McEwan's Atonement. I didn't know what it was about, but I remember it was adapted into a movie with Keira Knightly and Saoirse Ronan that I had meant to watch for quite some time, so I read it. And I loved it which is why I was no longer sure I wanted to see Joe Wright's Atonement.

The story opens in 1935 when a 13-year-old aspiring writer and playwright, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), witnesses an act she doesn't fully understand, the long-time family servant, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), making love with her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley). Later on, she becomes the witness of a crime she doesn't understand but she thinks she does and falsely accuses Robbie because of what she had seen earlier. This accusation of hers tears apart the two lovers, maybe forever as Robbie is sent to serve the army in WWII. Five years later, a grown-up Briony (Romola Garai), aware of the damage she has caused, tries to make amends for it.

Adapting McEwan's novel was not easy, but screenwriter Christopher Hampton did a very good job, leaving out all the subplots that couldn't have been included in a two-hour film, focusing only on the important aspects of the story. Unfortunately, the storytelling is not as good as it could have been. While the first act is wonderful as it draws you in and keeps you on the edge of the seat to see what would happen — impressive considering I had just read the novel — the second and third act are unfortunately not as compelling. I did like how the ending was changed, not the ending of the story, but the way it is delivered to us with Briony giving an interview rather than speaking to the reader/viewer. 

Just like in the novel, none of the characters is particularly sympathetic as they all are pretty self-centered and melodramatic, and yet it's fascinating to watch them because they are complex and developed characters, even though their thoughts aren't as well-rounded and intimate as they are in the book. 

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Arguably Atonement's greatest strength is the acting. Keira Knightley is delightful in the role of Cecilia as she conveys her character's feeling within a single glance, James McAvoy is terrific in the role of Robbie as he delivers a strong performance filled with emotions and wonderfully conveys the innocence of young love as well as the brutalities of war. Also, Knightley and McAvoy have such great chemistry, not only it's obvious they would way for each other and that we want them to be together, but it feels like visual poetry. It's not often that two actors are able to make you feel such strong emotions only with a glance. Saoirse Ronan is quite extraordinary and steals her scene she is in as she conveys the naivety, frustrations and anger of 13-year-old Briony to perfection. Also notable is Vanessa Redgrave's performance in the role of old Briony as she effortlessly conveys many emotions through her expressions.

Also worthy of a mention are Seamus McGarvey's breathtaking cinematography, the superb set design, the costumes, and a terrific musical score by Dario Marianelli that infuses the film with beauty and sadness.

It's such a shame the second and third act are not very compelling and feel dragged because this had the potential to be a masterpiece.

Collateral Beauty (2016)

This year I'm seriously committing to watching all those movies that have been on my watchlist since the dawn of times because I always put them off. Collateral Beauty is one of them and since it was on TV some nights ago, I  finally watched it. 

The film mostly focuses on Howard Inlet (Will Smith), a successful advertising executive who has completely lost it after the death of his daughter. Building domino chains and writing letters to Love, Time, and Death, is all he does, and he's driving his company on the verge of bankruptcy. His three friends and business partners, Whit Yardsham (Edward Norton), Claire Wilson (Kate Winslet), and Simon Scott (Michael Peña), fear for the future of the company so, in order to save/sell it, they hire three actors, Amy (Keira Knightley), Raffi (Jacob Latimore), and Brigitte (Helen Mirren), to play Love, Time, and Death respectively, and convince him that nobody else can see them so to prove he's mentally unstable. 

It's a story with a lot of potential, unfortunately it was poorly executed —not only the entire plot is revealed within the first 15-20 minutes, but after a while it just stops going anywhere and it becomes just a dull sequence of events that lead to a first twist that was obvious from the character's first appearance and a less obvious second twist at the end that still fail to wow you. It feels like Collateral Beauty's wants to be a poignant, emotional story about loss and pain but also love and hope, but it just comes off as bland and cold. I didn't lose my interest but still, I wasn't compelled by it. 

The characters aren't much better than that as they are, just like the story, bland. We don't care about any of them and the ending is a relief only because it means the movie is over. Despite his interactions with Love, Time, and Death, Howard doesn't grow nor change in any way. The friends' motives are questionable at best. Furthermore, these characters are just fillers, their stories are tremendously rushed, feel forced and take away the focus from the mains storyline which ends up feeling like a subplot. 

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The performances are meh. Will Smith pretty much gives the same performance he gave in The Pursuit of Happiness and Seven Pounds but this time around he didn't succeed in moving me to tears —I guess the director did the trick in the movies I just mentioned. Edward Norton was bad, and it really hurt as I'm a huge fan of his. Kate Wins finds herself stuck with one of the most generic roles ever. Helen Mirren is probably the only one trying here and as a result she gives a compelling performance as Brigitte/Death. 

Ultimately, Collateral Beauty tries to be a deep movie but it ends up being flat. There's some meaningful lines here and there, mostly delivered by Helen Mirren, but they come out of nowhere so they don't have much of an impact on us. Also, I'm not entirely sure I understood the whole concept of collateral beauty. I guess I'm too rational for this kind of movie.