By now, you've probably heard about the unveiling of the Golden Globes nominees, including the seven categories in which Atonement has been nominated. I caught a sceening yesterday at the Samsung Experience store at Columbus Center, and I gotta admit, there was a lot to admire on the screen, but, ultimately, I suspect A.O. Scott was right: "The film, after a tantalizing start, sputters to a halt in a welter of grandiose imagery and hurtling montage."

If you haven't read the Ian McEwan novel, be forewarned: The commercials that play up the "lovers separated by World War II" element obscure much of the story's real themes—which is fine; frankly, it was a better film than the trailers led me to expect it would be. I'd forgotten, since it's been far too long since I've read much McEwan, how alluringly twisted his stories can be, that this is the same guy who wrote The Cement Garden and The Comfort of Strangers. And there are some exquisite visuals, including an amazing tracking shot that takes in the full panorama of the British evacuation of Dunkirk. The problem is that it all pretty much goes off the rails in a final sequence, set in the present, where, and I don't think it's given too much away to say so, Vanessa Redgrave basically says, "Well, actually, what you just saw was all about this, really." Not that that's going to hurt the film's chances in any of the categories for which it's been nominated, or when the Academy Award shortlists are drawn up early next year.

(The screening was arranged as part of Samsung's "Blueseat" program, a promotional vehicle that spotlights a new movie every other month.)