"LaBute Gets Possessed"
by Scott Mantz

"Possession"
Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart
Directed by Neil LaBute

Spellbound! Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart solve a romantic mystery in "Possession"

And then I did some sleuthing of my own, and I realized that the film had a lot going for it. In addition to marking Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow's return to form after spending too much time in a fat suit in "Shallow Hal," it also represents a daring--but somewhat uneven--artistic breakthrough for director Neil LaBute, the acclaimed filmmaker behind scathing art-house fare like "In the Company of Men," "Your Friends and Neighbors" and, to a lesser extent, "Nurse Betty."

Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart) is an American research assistant in England who is studying the works of Randoph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam), the poet laureate to Queen Victoria in the mid-1800's. He discovers some steamy love letters written by Ash to a lesser-known poet named Christabel La Motte (Jennifer Ehle), which leads him to believe that the two had an affair. In order to prove it, he'll need the help of Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow), a British academic who is doing her own research for a book about La Motte. The arrogant Roland and the uptight Maud couldn't have any less in common, but when they team up to discover the truth about Ash and La Motte, they become magically attracted to each other.

LaBute's brutal take on relationships is what gives the film its edge, as the animosity that keeps the lovers apart in the modern day is in complete contrast to the unconditional love that binds the poets together in the past. He also takes the "men vs. women" angle to the next level by pitting the Brits against the Yanks and the rich against the poor. As for his technique, LaBute makes clever transitions between the different time periods--often in the same scene--while the lush Victorian-era cinematography looks like it could have come right out of a Merchant Ivory film.

By condensing A.S. Bryant's massive 550-page tome into the space of a one-hour-and-forty-two-minute film, certain plot elements were bound to get the short end of the stick. That's certainly the case with the modern day romance, which feels awkward and contrived compared to the passionately seductive romance of the past. There's also a bare-bones sub-plot regarding rival literates who would do anything to get their hands on the original love letters, but unfortunately, it too is underdeveloped and doesn't hold together.

Some of the casting is also questionable. There's no doubt that Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle sizzle as the star-crossed lovers of the past, but the handsome Aaron Eckhart (who is working with LaBute for the fourth time) looks like he'd rather be scoping the bars than scoping the books. More importantly, his romance with Gwyneth Paltrow--who's as ravishing as ever and once again dons a perfect British accent--lacks the chemistry that it sorely needs.

"Possession" falls short of being the sweeping, seductive epic that it could have been, but it's still worth seeing if you're looking for a romantic moviegoing experience. In fact, while watching the film, I couldn't help but be reminded of other romantic book-based movies like "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "The Bridges of Madison County." To that extent, I guess "Possession" turned out to be something I could relate to after all.

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