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Atonement is a novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is widely regarded as one of McEwan’s best works and was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction, an award he had already won for his previous novel Amsterdam. In addition, Time magazine named it the best fiction novel of the year and included it in its All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels, and The Observer cites it as one of the 100 best novels written. A synopsis of the novel can be found in the Wikipedia so I will not pursue that here. The movie is an acceptable adaptation of the novel. You hate the right characters and love the right ones. I am not a fan of James McAvoy and his performance is much better here than in The Last King of Scotland. He also has a better haircut. Unfortunately Briony, in my opinion, never gets her just deserts for what she did, the fact that she has had to lead a long life and to live with what she did to two other lives gives a bit of satisfaction. Her feeble attempt to give those she wronged some happiness through the fiction in her novel cannot repay the damage a jealous, stupid, spiteful, arrogant, and holier-than-th0u sibling did. A bit of a period piece. Takes considerable time to develop the plot, but does move relatively well and the flashbacks, flashforwards, and fiction vs reality snipets demostrate considerable expertise in direction. Decent cinematography.