Atonement

Young hot actors+tragedy=bearable Atonement
Here is another book that I have 'read' in preparation for the film version. I don't think that I would have picked it up if the lovely Ms. Knightly hadn't seduced me in to it. First of all, I don't like stories that are too tragic; the book seemed like a big downer, and in some ways it is (sexual assault, particularly of a minor, is never fun to me). On the other hand, it is also a beautiful character-study for so many of the main players and I am content with the time I spent listening to the audiobook.

I think James McAvoy is going to be a great Robbie and Romola Garai is good enough to make the audience not totally despise Briony, the younger sister whose misunderstanding instigates the the tragedy. I am in; this cast has sold me on the hope that the sadness of the story and the bittersweetness of what little redemption the book affords will not turn into a lachrymose mush on-screen.

I can tell you right now that my best movie buddy will not be interested in seeing this with me, so I may have to review it all by myself. While I think it is too early to talk about a movie's chances at an Oscar (it is always too early, particularly if a movie hasn't even come out yet. Wait until November, people!), this movie seems like a jury-pleaser, from what I know of the book and the actors. Admittedly, the actors are still the biggest draw for me, but the cinematography also looks fantastic. We shall see.

Going to see it: No Country For Old Men

I just finished the audiobook for this title, in preparation for the movie coming out. I prefer to read (or 'read', in the case of audiobooks) the text a movie is based on, before I see it. This may not be the best plan, since I am usually a little disappointed with the movie's comparatively limited scope, but I do have fun agreeing or disagreeing with the casting choices (Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon? Please!).

I liked the book a lot. Tom Stechschulte's voice did the gritty landscape of the novel justice, and from the previews, the movie will too. Javier Bardem (a great actor, even if I don't appreciate him very much) is super creepy, even in an awful haircut. I think he is going to be terrifyingly good as the psychopath Chigurh (on cd, pronounced more like a deeply southern slur of "chigger" than "sugar"). Josh Brolin is not an actor that I think very highly of, but he certainly looks the part, as does Tommy Lee Jones (a great actor, who makes some unfortunate choices). I adore Kelly Macdonald, so I will see her in almost anything. I will be even more impressed if she can pull off the deep-southern vulnerability of Carla Jean without being overbearinly needy. I am not so sure about Woody Harrelson; I can't take the guy seriously, even if he is set up to be the 'problem solver' deployed to reign in Chigurh's killing spree.

Now all I have to do is hope that the producers don't try to 'update' the setting; for me, that would ruin it, even though all the way through the book, I was dying for a good CSI team and some DNA-tests.

We'll see how well the translation from the page to the screen works out. I am prepared to like it, although I don't think that Lunanshee will be eager to see the movie, much less like the ending. I think the dark, gritty, rangy prose of the novel will come to life on-screen.
I am glad that I read the story first, because I know what a deliciously unsettling scare I am going to be in for with the killer's calm application of the cattle stun-gun. Maybe the metallic chunk of a high-pressure tank being set down on concrete will make me jump for years to come. (Darn, and I really like to scuba-dive!)