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Desert Local News - Desert Local News March 18th 2008 Print and Virtual Edition - Index

20 DVD SELECT ‘ATONEMENT’
By Robert J. Hawkins
There are two kinds of people.
There are those who obsess
over every detail in a relationship,
who analyze each behavior
and meditate on the significance
of every word and action that
transpires.
Then there is the other kind.
They are called guys.
guys have their own set of
questions in a relationship. Like,
“What’s up?” “now what’s
wrong?” and “What just happened?”
That last question is the one
I kept asking myself all through
the epic romantic drama “Atonement”
(universal, 2 1/2 stars).
The time is 1935, on a fabulous
english estate that requires
dozens of loyal, undereducated
and underpaid countrymen to
maintain it in all its splendor.
Robbie (James McAvoy) is a
gardener but none of the above.
In fact, the master of the manse
took Robbie under his wing and
paid for his education at Oxford
or some such place.
It is the same place the master
sent his sultry daughter Cecilia
(Keira Knightley). Both
are back at the estate, where an
unspoken upstairs-downstairs
attraction percolates.
Observing from a distance
is the knowing - and perhaps a
touch covetous - gaze of Cecilia’s
little sister, Briony (Saoirse
Ronan). She of the fertile, literary
imagination, Briony sees
from a distance and interprets
through her own unformed emotional
filters with all the certainty
of a 13-year-old. (Much like
most Internet bloggers.)
Briony’s dangerous brew of
imagination, pubescent longings,
immaturity and youthful
pragmatism results in a tragic
set of misperceived circumstances
which end up with poor
Robbie, the cook’s son, hauled
off to prison. As Briony points
the assertive accusatory finger.
Flash forward and World
War II is in full bloody bloom
and Robbie is somewhere in
France, avoiding nazis and desperately
seeking the Dunkirk
beach where the greatest retreat
in modern history is about to
unfold. Perhaps not as surreal as
it unfolds here in the vision of
director Joe Wright.
In London, Cecilia is toiling
as a nurse, awaiting the return of
Robbie, her true love. elsewhere
in London, Briony (Romola garai)
is older, wiser and horribly
ashamed of the tragedy she has
set in motion. She is a nurse in
training and an aspiring writer at
night.
Flash even further forward
and Briony is an aging literary
giant (the marvelous vanessa
Redgrave) discussing her last
novel - one based on her own
life and that of her sister and
Robbie. Suffice to say that in her
novel, Briony gives Cecilia and
Robbie the joy she denied them
in real life.
Small compensation if you
are Cecilia or Robbie, perhaps.
But a moving and heartbreaking
revelation none the less.
“Atonement” is a powerful
story, with some clever turns
that pull viewers through the
story. It has stunning scenery
and a charming and engaging
cast. What it lacks is a fluidity
that would enable the audience
to get completely lost in the
story. There is a pieced-together
feel to so many scenes. Leading
to the question “What just happened?”
ALSO THIS WEEK
“I Am Legend” (Warner
Bros., 3 stars) A genetic breakthrough
in the treatment of cancer
turns renegade and within
three years has devastated the
population of earth. Those who
survive are mindlessly violent
and cannibalistic “dark seekers.”
The few who weren’t affected
are being hunted down
and killed by the dark seekers.
except for Dr. Robert neville
(Will Smith) who manages to
survive in the rapidly decaying
city while seeking a cure for the
genetic monstrosity.
neville periodically captures
a live dark seeker on which to
perform his experimental cures.
All prove unsuccessful - fatal
actually. Meanwhile, the seekers
are showing signs of rapid evolution
- organizing into packs,
laying traps for neville.
The arrival of a pair of survivors
- Anna (Alice Braga) and
a boy ethan (Charlie Tahan)
- raises the prospect that there
are more survivors. They are
en route to safe colonies in vermont,
which Anna knows exist
because, “god told me,” she
explains. Here, “I Am Legend”
deteriorates from an engrossing
tale of one man’s battle to
survive in an incredibly hostile
atmosphere into a video game
shooter, as the dark seekers zero
in on neville’s brownstone fortress.
Anna and neville must engage
in the fight of their lives
and Neville, a solitary figure for
over three years, makes the ultimate
sacrifice.
not the happiest of endings,
but ultimately a hopeful one.
Meanwhile, an alternate ending
on the DvD is downright
disturbing. In it, the most-recently
captured dark seeker on
which neville is experimenting
proves to be the mate of the “alpha
male.” Savage as they are,
the dark seekers have re-evolved
back to that point. The alpha
only wants his mate returned,
which Neville finally realizes.
I think he also realizes, in a
moment of clarity as he stares
at the dozens of photos of dark
seekers on which he has unsuccessfully
experimented, that
he’s become something of a Joseph
Mengele, the nazi “Angel
of Death.” Bummer.
“enchanted” (Disney, 3 stars)
This is just a flat-out love fest for
every great movie that Disney
has created over the years. The
references to classic animated
films come so quickly they tumble
over each other. The story
itself is a classic retelling of the
prince and princess fables. It begins
in 1930s and ‘40s Disneyanimated
style with the lovely
giselle (Amy Adams) pining for
her prince in a woodland cottage
with only the forest animals as
friends.
When Prince Charming, um,
make the Prince edward (James
Marsden) rescues giselle from
an ogre, they set the wedding
for the next day. (Stuff happens
fast in animation.) The wicked
queen/stepmother Queen narissa
(Susan Sarandon) pushes
giselle down a bottomless well
into a land where “there is no
happily ever after” - new york
City. Specifically, Times Square,
which Disney will probably own
in its entirety by the year 2020.
Giselle emerges as a fleshand-blood
human, albeit more
naive and trusting than most
hicks who land in the big city.
She is befriended by divorce
attorney Robert Philip (Patrick
Dempsey) and his daughter
Morgan (Rachel Covey). Prince
edward and a talking squirrel
plunge down the well to rescue
giselle and they’re followed by
the queen’s underhanded second
nathaniel (Timothy Spall) who
is out to kill giselle with poisoned
apples.
giselle sings and dances her
way across new york, extolling
the joys of love and melting the
hearts of crusty and cynical new
yorkers - and the audience, too.
Amy Adams is a real doll.
AND THE REST: A languid
take on gabriel garcia
Marquez’s “Love in the Time of
Cholera” stars Javier Bardem;
guy Ritchie stays safely within
familiar turf - guns, violence
and gangsters - in “Revolver”;
good versus evil in the fantasy
film “The Seeker”; confirmation
that L.A. is one big sprawling
mess in “Southland Tales”; and
skiers drop down breathtaking
verticals in the documentary
“Steep.”
IT CAME FROM TV
College life as only Dis-
ney can conceive it in season
one, chapter one of the sitcom
“Greek”; sci-fi meets cowboys
in season four of “The Wild Wild
West”; cowboys meet gangsters
(sort of) in season two, volume
two of “The untouchables”;
family ties bind in season eight
of “Married ... with Children”; a
ship of fools keeps us laughing
in season three of “McHale’s
navy”; space out with season
three of “Battlestar galactica.”
FROM THE VAULTS
“Don’t Drink the Water”
(Lionsgate, 1969) This is the
Jackie gleason version of
the Woody Allen play. Allen
reportedly hated this version.
It all comes down to how you
feel about Jackie gleason -
but admit it, he could play the
blustery ugly American like
nobody else.
“Bull Durham: Collector’s
edition” (MgM, 1988)
I once asked Susan Sarandon
how it felt to make love to
Kevin Costner in a bowl of
Wheaties. She turned those
huge eyes on me and said,
cooly, “every woman should
try it.” My favorite scene in
the movie, still.
“eight Men Out: Collector’s
edition” (MgM, 1988)
John Sayles gave us this memorable
take on the Black Sox
scandal - and today we long
for the simple days when all
a player fixed was the World
Series.
DVD RATINGS
4 stars: Don’t miss: rent it/
buy it
3 stars: Worth the risk: rent it
2 stars: On the tipping point:
if nothing else is available
1 star: Don’t bother: wait until
it’s in the $1 bin
© Copley news Service