Atonement (2008)Movies

INTERIOR DECORATION Kyle Smith review of “Atonement” “Atonement” belongs in a theater–“Masterpiece Theater.” At the outset of this beautifully designed, ornate, carefully acted melodrama I had an idea that never occurred to me while reading Ian McEwan’s book–one of the most acclaimed novels of recent years but one whose reputation will unfortunately suffer as a result of this film. Oh, no, I thought as the film unspooled. A misguided-letter movie? Really? In 2007? The clanking Victorian mechanism of McEwan’s plot doesn’t leap out from the book because of the hushed spareness of his delicate yet explosive prose. A glance can be everything in the pages of “Atonement.” On the screen, it’s...