BY CARBOLIC SMOKE BALL FILM CRITIC AND FORMER DUKE LACROSSE STRIPPER CRYSTAL GAIL MANGUM - "Atonement" is supposed to be about a false rape allegation. I decided to willingly suspend my disbelief about this totally implausible premise for the sake of this review. I must caution you, however, that this review might not be as accurate as I'd like because I really can't tell one young white male from another -- I mean, I'd be terrible if I had to pick one out of a line-up (strike that last comment), so I am confused about much of what transpired in the film.A thirteen-year-old girl named Brioney tells authorities that she saw a young white male, who is in love with Brioney's older sister Cecilia, raping another girl. The authorities believe Brioney, as is only appropriate since it's a young girl's word against a male's, so they arrest the male and he serves several years in prison before joining the army in lieu of the remainder of his sentence.
So far so good. Rape allegation, male in prison. That's exactly how it should work.
But then the film unravels. Brioney admits it was all a lie and says the male didn't rape anybody, and she lives the rest of her life feeling guilty and trying to atone for the supposed lie.
I could hardly catch my breath in the theater, I was so outraged over the film's deficient editing. Obviously they left out an entire subplot that would have explained that Brioney was delusional when she said the male was innocent. Allow me to fill in the gaps: the male deserved to go to jail regardless of what the so-called "evidence" showed. He is a white male. I mean, as it is, the audience felt sorry for the guy because he didn't do it, which is so wrong on so many levels, there's not enough space here to chronicle it. It felt like I was watching a propaganda film for truth and integrity or some such nonsense. Anyway, due to the poor editing, I cannot in good conscience recommend this film.
Of interest, Robert Altman, who died in 2006, was briefly resuscitated to film a lengthy tracking shot involving a bunch of white male soldiers.
