working from McEwan's screenplay, Cooke has fashioned the material into a visually captivating romantic puzzle that reverberates with hope and tenderness and wistful loss
the text [in original book] is rich with stylistic flourishes and social observations, and boasts a genuinely wrenching closing sequence. The film, alas, is not
On Chesil Beach presents a deeply moving story with intricate ramifications and a big secret at the heart of its storyline, but the film somehow fails to ignite the same feelings and emotions as the book does
for a movie that wants to underscore the messiness of sex and love, and explore the bridge that's required to unite emotional and physical desires, it's a disappointment
"On Chesil Beach" more resembles a wilted relationship, one that offers up no excitement about the future and little respect for the past. It's simply stale
by Kevin Maher [The Times (UK) ]
