Those crazy academics are up to no good again, stealing long lost love letters, digging up Victorian scandals and bidding ridiculous prices at Sotheby’s auctions. The past plays instigator for the present in Neil LaBute’s Possession, a stuffy film disguised as a romance/ thriller/Nancy Drew-Hardy Boys team-up. The film is based on the 1990 novel by A.S. Byatt.
American Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart) is in London on a fellowship to research renowned Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam) whose flowery prose was believed to show a man of monogamy and old-fashioned chivalry. However, after discovering a letter that contradicts these claims, Roland teams with Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow), a highly regarded gender studies professor, to trace the origins of the mysterious letters and find out what really happened some 100 year previous.
Discovering clues like a bonafide pair of junior detectives, Roland and Maud travel the British countryside to lush locale after lush locale. Their journey mirrors that of Ash and his mistress Christabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle), a fellow poet. The sweeping vistas along with the intricate 19th-century costumes make Possession a pleasant film to look at if nothing else.
The time-bending romance had me thinking of Jeannot Szwarc’s Somewhere in Time, but Possession lacks the passion that made Szwarc’s film so endearing. Roland and Maud both have unresolved personal issues that make them fear romance and commitment, yet these issues are not explored. They’re brought up briefly, only to be followed by awkward and ultimately meaningless moments of silence. The journey into history Roland and Maud take does parallel the romantic fires stoked by Randolph and Christabel. But other than working closely together around romantic poems, it is hard to see why they might fall for one another other than the fact that they’re a pair of Hollywood beauties. But LaBute tries to emphasize passion, not lust.
And what would a search for treasure be without some pirates trying to ruin the party? Enter Fergus Wolff (Toby Stephens) and Morton Cropper (Trevor Eve), the snobbiest of all the academics, deceptive, cruel and with loyalty only to their own personal gain. Working as rivals to Maud and Roland, these baddies resemble a mix of bumbling Scooby-Doo villains and the wealthy country club patrons that are mocked and beaten in most any Adam Sandler movie. Fergus and Morton lighten the air a little, but the tone doesn’t fit. I’d blame it in large part to the fact that the pair are mere sketches, not full blown characters. One is a jealous putz, the other is a free spending glory hound. Because that’s all we get to know about the two they never feel like much of a threat. It puts the spotlight on the fact that LaBute appears to be torn on the direction he wants Possession to take. Romance? Period passion? Mystery? Exploration of academic society? Now nitwits? Give me some bread crumbs while I go search for the purpose.
I was never drawn into either of the time periods Possession explores, nor any of the criss-crossing storylines. This movie is all over the place, touching on many themes and emotions, but it fails to fully explore any one area to the point of satisfaction.
