Joe Wright's second feature film after 2005's Pride & Prejudice is another adaptation, this time tackling more difficult fare, that being Ian McEwan's best-selling novel about love and betrayal and what the two things do to two British sisters and the man that comes between them. Atonement starts out as one thing, ends up as something else and is never quite what it seems, but it's very much a British film--some might even feel too British if that's possible--but Wright successfully creates an intricate genre-melding film that deserves all the kudos it's been receiving sight unseen.

Opening in the British countryside at a giant estate in the days preceding WWII, we're immediately thrust into the turbulent love triangle between 13-year-old playwright Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), her older sister Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the son of the maid (Brenda Blethyn) who has become friends with the kids of the household. Cecelia and Robbie are arguing for reasons we don't know until later, but Briony also has a crush on Robbie, and she does whatever she can to interfere in their relationship and make things more difficult. Robbie has hopes of going to medical school, which are destroyed on a fateful night where he's fingered by the jealous Briony for a crime he didn't commit. Four years later, Robbie has been given a choice between joining the army or going to jail and he faces unspeakable turmoil on the French warfront, as he pines for the time he can return to Cecelia. The two sisters, both nurses during the war, are no longer on speaking terms, and the older Briony (Romola Garai) still feels tremendous guilt for getting Robbie sent off to war and foiling their romance. After a chance encounter between the trio, the film jumps forward an undisclosed amount of time to a point where the significantly older Briony, now played by Vanessa Redgrave, is interviewed about the release of her 21st novel "Atonement" which tells the story of how she lied about what happened.

This is very much a film with three distinct acts, which starts as a sly look at a class struggle between the working class and the idle rich, turns into a dark mystery-thriller before transforming into a traditional wartime romance drama, with Wright masterfully changing gears without missing a beat. The semi-linear method of telling the story sometimes makes it hard to figure out what we're watching, as it shows various events from different angles, but the complexities of this love triangle certainly makes it fascinating to watch it unfold. Things aren't nearly as interesting when the story first jumps forward four years, but things pick up once Briony reenters the picture and Robbie and Cecelia's romance is put to the test by Robbie's assignment to the front. The conclusion is surprisingly satisfying even though it doesn't go where some might expect.

With a nearly impeccable screenplay by Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan's novel is beautifully realized by Wright and his young cast with every scene leaving you with your jaw agape, particularly an extended tracking shot which follows Robbie, as he walks across a beach filled with wounded soldiers and the aftermath of battle. Wright is also given a chance to play with visual themes, such as when Cecelia dives into the fountain to retrieve the piece of a broken vase, a scene mirrored by a flashback to Brionny falling into a river. The stirring score by Dario Marianelli is similarly used to build on these themes, particularly with the way it blends the sound effects of the ever-present typewriter into the music.

Although Atonement reunites Wright with his Pride & Prejudice star Keira Knightley, Cecelia often becomes a secondary to Brionny and Robbie's stories. In actuality, this is James McAvoy's movie, finally giving him a chance to show his range in a role that has him playing a young, fresh-faced and charming young man one moment and a weary war-savaged soldier the next. The fact that McAvoy is barely recognizable the first time we see him in the second act proves him to be an actor with far more depth than his peers, and hopefully, he'll get the recognition for this role that he was denied with The Last King of Scotland. Equally impressive are the three talented actresses that play Briony, including young Saoirse Ronan (recently tapped to star in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lovely Bones"), who steals much of the first act from the better-known stars, and Romola Garai, who truly embodies the role by creating a believable older version of Ronan. Then of course you have Vanessa Redgrave, who filmmakers have discovered they can put in their movie, have her read a few lines with the camera up close and immediately elevate the film's quality.

Redgrave's presence makes it hard not to be reminded of recent inferior adaptation of Evening, but this film is far more effective at adapting a difficult novel and showing how decisions made in the past greatly affect destiny, and the reason it works is by not trying to show the entire story using flashbacks.

Either way, Atonement is a powerful sophomore effort from Joe Wright, a stunning, powerful film that's likely to have as much impact on second viewing, even once you think you know everything.

Rating: 9/10

Atonement opens in limited release on December 7.

I could already tell from the trailers that I've seen (including some footage way back in March at Showest), that Shekhar Kapur's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 1998 masterpiece Elizabeth would be a visual treat. What I didn't know was that those visuals would often be so overblown and overpowering that they'd detract from the continuation of that story, focusing on an older and more experienced Queen Elizabeth, a role reprised by Cate Blanchett. Well into her reign, the "Virgin Queen" must seek out a suitor in order to bear an heir, while contending with conspiracies to kill her from Mary, Queen of Scots, and an impending invasion by the Spanish armada. Amidst all this turmoil, the queen becomes the third cog in a love triangle between Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and her hand-maiden Bess (Abbie Cornish).

The first time we see the older Elizabeth, she's wearing a bright orange wig to match her dress with her face covered thick with white make-up, and we immediately understand how she's able to command such respect with her presence. Over the course of the film, we'll see her wearing many other impressive outfits, but we'll also see her out of the make-up and lavish robes, when she's at her most vulnerable and human.

The chemistry and attraction between Elizabeth and Clive Owen's Walter Raleigh is almost instant, but her place as the country's ruler prevents her from putting herself in the position to accept Raleigh's attentions. Instead, he becomes involved with her hand-maiden Bess, another wonderful performance by Abbie Cornish, which creates an awkward love triangle where the queen feels like she can't control her own destiny while manipulating the destiny of others.

While Blanchett gives another brilliant performance that keeps you riveted to her every move, the movie itself is a disappointment, since I was really hoping for greatness and perfection. It's by no means a terrible movie, but it certainly suffers from Kaphur's efforts to make every shot be a beautiful artistic painting, but these perfect images are often done at the sake of the movie's pacing. It's a shame, because all of the performances are solid including Owen and Geoffrey Rush, and Kaphur has created a terrific character piece about Elizabeth's personal life, but it's often detracted from by cutting to the Spaniards' plans to attack England. By the time it actually gets to this epic battle, it feels almost unnecessary, because by that point, you've become enrapt in Elizabeth's personal struggles to find happiness.

Given the chance to create epic sea battles that might have created excitement in anyone bored with the pageantry in Elizabeth's court, Kaphur instead continues his desire to create gorgeous perfectly-painted images, often by showing scenes in slow motion. On top of that, he starts to roll out every single cliche in the historic war epic book, including a scene of Blanchett egging the British troops on horse before their battle ala Braveheart (and every movie since), as well as a shot of the scene on the cliffs overlooking the devastation at sea, which seemed much more suitable for 300 than this.

The score is quite gorgeous, one that would be great to listen to on CD repeatedly, but it just never stops even for a second. It's completely overpowering as it tries to make every word uttered more important and powerful than necessary.

After Kaphur finishes showing these glorious battle images, we return for a brief epilogue to the relationship between Elizabeth and Raleigh, but it never feels like a satisfying conclusion, since the film is suddenly over quicker than one might expect, leaving Elizabeth's story open, presumably for a third movie.

In fairness, Kaphur's return to Elizabethan times is impeccably shot and acted, but it's essentially a great-looking cliche-filled period film that carries very little weight or emotional impact.

Rating: 7/10

Elizabeth: The Golden Age opens nationwide on October 12.