So... I just watched Atonement with my parents. My mom had seen a commercial for it on TV and requested that I Netflix it, then promptly forgot about it completely when it arrived a couple weeks ago. ('Mom, I got Atonement for you.' 'What's that?' 'That movie you wanted to see.' 'Oh, the one with the little boy and the music?' 'Um... no.' 'What's Atonement?')

Anyway, I thought it was going to be great, after all the Oscar hoopla. Except it just wasn't. I don't think Keira Knightly should be cast in any more movies until she eats something, because watching her onscreen is like watching a live skeleton. However, aside from that, I felt like the characters were pretty hollow. Cecilia was a snob and a half, Briony was annoying, and Robbie had nothing going for him except his lovelorn desire for Cecilia the snob.

And. Okay. What the heck was with the French soldier? Was that supposed to make sense in the least?

Finally, the end was just a copout. Nothing like a dry monologue to wrap things up nicely. Did the screenwriters get lazy? Tired? Trying to meet a deadline?

Don't you know what happens when you write to meet a deadline?