It is an elegant and sophisticated film, one that never condescends or shirks from the complexity of the novel and its grand themes - war, love, sex, memory, betrayal, redemption - but it's also strangely unfeeling.

Atonement is a film out of balance, nimble enough in its first half but oddly scattered and ungainly once it leaves the grounds of the Tallis estate.

[U]ltimately, the movie amounts to rolling lawns, lovely costumes, and characters that simply fail to resonate.

Best film of the 21st century.