Atonement

An honorable illustration of an excellent novel, Joe Wright’s adaptation of Ian McEwan (by way of Christopher Hampton) never takes off as a film of its own. Despite showy direction and insistent sound design, it lacks some fundamental engagement. The actors are generally good, but the characters are put through their paces without essential connectedness. So the film is pleasant to look at, with many dovetailing parts, but the feelings are muted, if not embalmed. Pretty and clever, but not moving -- as the book most definitely is. So if you know the novel, the film is a bit of a comedown, and if you don’t then the story will ring hollow. James McAvoy definitely has appeal, but I find blade-thin Keira Knightley a little scary. All three actresses who play the third side of the triangle, the writer-sister Briony, effectively portray a continuity of character: Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. But again the emotions are pumped up rather than flowing naturally from screen to viewer. You are swept away in the flood or you are left a bit high and dry. (2007, dvd, n.) *6+* (MC-85.)

I enjoyed watching The Searchers (1956), to wrap up my latest film series at the Clark, “A Wild and Savage Land: John Ford Looks at the American West” -- but I don’t think it would crack my Top 25 of All Time. The imagery is spectacular in every sense, and John Wayne is excellent, but it’s not quite as intense as I remembered, the story arc broken by bits of Fordian business like the brawl at the wedding. So it strikes me as an excellent but not a transcendant Western.