Possession | Review

LaBute’s fourth is a pleasant summer romance for the big screen.

The first thought that came too mind after the first fifteen minutes of the film elapsed was- ‘he’s gone soft on his audience’-quite indeed a worldly difference from his previous three crass-light films, the brilliant 1997 Sundance winner In the Company of Men, Your Friends & Neighbors and Nurse Betty. Contemporary filmmaker Neil LaBute bridges the gap of the Victorian era with a little Hardy Boys clue, seek and search adventures. LaBute’s most recent is a grand departure from a scrupulous style of filmmaking that encompasses a neat mixture of offbeat twisted dialogue, and dementedly fun characters. He hasn’t gone Hollywood on us just yet, especially when accomplice-Aaron Eckhart (The Pledge) is there to throw in a couple of brut LaBute-orientated one-liners to keep fans pleased.

LaBute’s Possession is a film with deeply rooted themes of the forbidden and secret love – scripted from a book adaptation that includes the Victorian period and has the added touch penned by LaBute that includes a romance of modern society. Researcher Roland and Maud-Gwyneth Paltrow (The Royal Tenenbaums) share a passion for dead people who wrote poetry and other salivating scriptures from the likes of 19th century poet Ash-Jeremy Northam (The Importance of Being Earnest) and a certain LaMotte- Jennifer Ehle (Sunshine). As the protagonists gather up clues- based on more than one lucky needle in a haystack findings, the path is set for the unravelling of past secrets-and a seamless uncut switch occurs in the tales told on the screen. The drive of the picture is definitely not in the subplot of the antagonists of the film-men with suits and fancy cars following from behind but rather the estrogenic orientated part of the film lies with the lusciously visual episodes of two artists finding solace in one another intermixed with the blossoming, sometimes un-compelling and unresolved relationship between a Yankee and a Brit. The Brit in the form of Paltrow, is simply another unconvincing lacklustre performance that portray the English characterizations with too much snobby and uptight behaviour.

What makes Possession a pleasant experience is in its simplicity- the screenplay translated surprisingly well to the big-screen with the existence of the mystery let’s solve the case element that envelopes the highlighted paralleled build-up romances, one is the lush romance for the adult audiences and the second is the quirky and complicated for the younger crowd. The film’s final moments are neatly tied up with a ribbon-a little of the ‘gimme a break’ design-which is easily forgotten for the ensemble feeling that comes across in this film-a four letter word that begins with the letter ‘L’ and ends with the letter ‘ove’. There is a little something for everyone in this film-worthy for those who’ll appreciate a non-typical love story.

REVIEWED ON: AUGUST, 14 2002

Rating 3 stars