Who will atone for Atonement?

I saw Atonement last night, and may I just say, Blah. Yawn. Blech.

What a heavy-handed, showy movie this is! Each shot is so deliberately set up, it made me wonder if director Joe Wright believes that refraction of light is more interesting to an audience than, say, storytelling. Like Jaime, I'm massively turned off by Keira Knightly and her collagen pout, but her performance was actually one of the less offensive elements of this film - all the actors are fine, but the filmmakers are so caught up in the filmmaking that the characters and story seem like a secondary, added bonus to all those stunning sunset shots. And they are gorgeous, but... so what?

Ick. More and more, I really detest movies (and theater) that are so interested in impressive production elements that they forget their real purpose: to tell a story. I feel the same way about the work done by Disney Theatricals. I just have no patience for it. It's arrogant, self-indulgent, and a sad waste of an opportunity.