On Chesil Beach

Ian McEwan's 2007 novella is the basis for this well-acted but curiously overstretched period drama, set in the grim, grey Britain of Philip Larkin's nightmares. The year is 1962, and newlyweds Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle) have checked into a "posh" Dorset hotel that has clearly seen better days. The honeymoon meal is excruciating enough, served by two inept, tip-seeking waiters, but the couple's fumbling attempts to get intimate take the relationship to breaking point. In between, director Dominic Cooke refers back to the various high points of the couple's courtship, all of which sketch in valuable details in each lover's back story - she comes from money, he from the sticks; she plays in a string quartet, he likes the blues. Such character notes are light and sensitive, notably when Florence endears herself to Edward's brain-damaged mother. But after the fireworks ignite, the film still has a way to go, muddling to a curious, pat ending that raises more questions than it answers.