First Take: On Chesil Beach- I always preferred Blackpool

SYNOPSIS:

Based on Ian McEwan’s novel. In 1962 England, a young couple find their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

Ian McEwan is an author who just knows how to write a true cinematic tale, and with the adaptation of his 2007 novella in cinemas now, the big question is whether it’s any good. It’s not up there with the work they did to bring Atonement to the big screen, but the Dominic Cooke-directed film does the job, while firing plot points a little bit too quickly.

Cooke’s technically not at fault, he does a decent job working to a script from McEwan himself (so you know right there that it’s going to be true to the book), but running at a 1 hour 50 minute duration, a good 10 minutes could’ve been cut to keep the film running coherently, especially with McEwan’s elaborately crafted dialogue and a structure that not many audience members will be able to understand without reading the source material. It’s shot very well by Sean Bobbitt, and Dan Jones’ score just about does the trick for what the film’s meant to be; a drama about how love can easily go wrong in the simplest of ways.

Undoubtedly where the film excels is in its performances- subtle, nuanced and perfectly balanced, Saoirse

Ronan once again knocks it out of the park, and any fears of her being typecast in these roles are proven wrong, this isn’t the pretty young romance the trailers have depicted, something which is portrayed incredibly well by Billy Howle (a relative newcomer having appeared in a supporting role in last year’s Dunkirk) throughout the film- these two have chemistry, and it makes the emotional payoff satisfying yet still brutal. Supporting them is a cast which includes Emily Watson, Anne-Marie Duff, Samuel West and many others, but Ronan’s performance is arguably the standout in this very mixed film.

THE VERDICT

Brutal, emotional, and honest, McEwan’s novella is adapted very faithfully for the big screen, but unfortunately some minor rookie errors hit the film hard. It’s definitely worth a watch, but wait until the ticket prices drop a little bit, purely and simply because it is a difficult film to get in to.

RATING: 3.5/5