One Day

All over the web, critics have blasted Anne Hathaway for her use of a Yorkshire accent in One Day. Now I am no expert on accents and it was sufficiently British for me to stand up and take notice that Hathaway had yet again checked a box in my books. Always loved her from her “Princess Diaries” days but I thought she came of age only with “Devil Wears Prada” and a stunning one in “Rachel Getting Married”. I thought she came up with another great performance but then I am biased towards her so I leave the judgement to you because you would not want to give One Day a miss.
Jim Sturgess’ performance as the promiscuous Dexter who is best friends with Emma (Hathaway) is very good to say the least. I would have to agree with some of the critics who say that he was better than Hathaway but then, the role demanded that he be better. He did have more of the screen time. Almost all of the movie had Sturgess but very few that had only Hathaway – in comparison that is. I guess he didn’t have much of a choice but to come up with the goods.

David Nicholls best selling 2009 novel (must buy sooner than later) it would seem has not really come out as well as the book was written. It is an extremely interesting concept and a story line about mapping the relationship between 2 friends or lovers if you would like to call them that – or maybe soul mates – over 23 years. And all of this on just One Day – 15th July. Starting from 1988 which is the day that they both graduate and have their first fling, all the way to 2011. Each year shows how the lives of both the protagonists have progressed and where they stand vis-à-vis each other. I guess it was only a matter of time before they made the book into a movie. Very interesting concept.

You will find the way the dates are titled extremely good. 15th July keeps appearing scene after scene in some of the most creative ways. Lone Scherfig gave us the much acclaimed An Education, a bit over 2 years back and it came in with loads of accolades and 3 Oscar nominations. I haven’t seen the movie yet and am eagerly looking forward to it especially after watching One Day because here is a director who seems to give her characters a real “flesh out”. There are so many finer nuances about Emma and Dexter that she gets out over nearly 2 hours that it gives us a clear understanding of each person. I hope I am fair in assuming that she has done the same in her previous movies. The editing is quite solid and the use of music as well with some new tracks from Elvis Costello. The lead track is just “haunting”. Suckers for Romance like me will also shed a tear or 2 towards the end. It builds up beautifully to a superb Christmas weekend for 2 people in love. 7 on 10 from my side. But not necessary to watch on the big screen.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3449396249

Atonement

I had to finish Valentines Day with a movie that epitomizes true love. There are enough and more romantic comedies that were aired all through the day; some really good ones also. But what about the truest of love stores? The ones that are gut wrenchingly, excruciatingly painful but represent the concept of a long lasting love better than any other? I reviewed The English Patient yesterday and it was a sub conscious choice without giving much thought to the fact that it was actually a great build up to V Day. But picking up Atonement from my collection was not only a choice driven by the fact that I hadn’t seen it (the previous copy I had picked up was a DVD released by Big Videos and didn’t have subtitles and so was promptly returned) but also because I was looking at a love story and not a RomCom to finish off the day. I had my share of RomComs before Atonement with Hitch and Hope Springs. So a Golden Globe Winner and one with 7 Oscar nominations (one win) seemed to be a great choice.


What would be the emotions you could possibly go through if you are about 13 years old (a very peculiar and impressionable age) and you walked into the library of your massive house and found your sister having sex with the man that she loves who is coincidentally the one that you have a massive crush on. 13 year old - Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan – pronounced SEER sha); Sister – Cecilia Tallis (Kiera Knightley); Lover – Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). The embarrassed couple straightens their clothes and walk away.

The Tallises have their cousins from the north staying with them due some domestic problems – The Twins – Pierrot Quincey (Felix von Simson) and Jackson Quincey (Charlie von Simson) along with their elder sister Lola (Juno Temple). The twins don’t want to stay with their cousins and decide to run away that evening. Obviously the family panics and a search party is sent out. During the search, Briony stumbles upon someone molesting Lola and is shocked even further. Neither Lola nor Briony is sure about who the person was. But using this as an opportunity to get back @ Robbie, the naïve 13 year old gets him arrested as a prime witness. The fledgling romance between Robbie and Cecilia is smashed to smithereens. Robbie goes to prison and then to the war. Cecilia, leaves home and becomes a nurse. They keep their relationship alive through the years despite the frequency of meetings and the distances.

Atonement as the title suggests is a story of a girl’s search for retribution as she comes of age and understands the gravity of her actions. And how she tries to set things right. Yet another adapted screenplay, this one is based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name. I haven’t read the book but can only assume that it did deal with the aspect of Briony’s struggle to come to terms with her actions a bit more in detail. As aspect that was not given as much justice in the movie. The movie focused more on the love story between the protagonists who have done a very good job of bringing to fore the emotions that the lovers go through in sustaining their relationship through the years that build up to the war. Somehow, Joe Wright doesn’t seem to have done justice to the entire concept. Maybe it was in an attempt to keep the movie to under 2 hours. I would have risked extending it by about 30 minutes because the pace is quite solid and doesn’t really drop through the movie. The first thing that does hit you about the movie is the music which seems to be made with a typewriter and one which got the movie its only Oscar. Great cinematography. Some obvious slips on attention to detail – like Kiera Knightley’s luscious red lips in a nurse’s uniform. But Beautiful love story overall. Put this on your must watch list. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3836805401/