Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach is two-thirds of a great movie. The scenes with Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle* are taut, troubling, and also have enough heart that you want the couple to make it through their wedding night. After we leave Chesil Beach, it’s a bunch of awkward aging makeup and the movie heads in an obvious direction.
Verdict: Skip unless you are a Saoirse Ronan completist or enjoy two-thirds of a good movie.
Cost: free via Multnomah County Library DVD
Where watched: at home
Consider watching instead: Atonement, Revolutionary Road
*Who was also delightfully pouty in Outlaw King as Edward, Prince of Wales.