Mystery and romance - it's like two movies for the price of one and I liked both of them.
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08/16/02
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Possession (2002)
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Reviews Counted:154
Fresh:99
Rotten:55
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Based on Byatt's novel of the same name, Possession is a lovely, literate romance.
Theatrical Release:Aug 16, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $10,058,448
Synopsis: Set in both contemporary and Victorian England, POSSESSION, directed by Neil LaBute, is based on the novel by A.S. Byatt. The tale begins with Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart), a laid-back American... [More]
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle
Director: Neil LaBute, Barry Levinson
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Reviews for Possession
"There are things that happen and leave no discernible trace, are not spoken or written of?" and this is Life. Lovely.
08/15/02
[Eckhart's] clueless performance...in large measure undermines the film.
08/15/02
Possession is in the end an honorable, interesting failure. It falls far short of poetry, but it's not bad prose.
08/15/02
Top CriticThe acting is superb, and if you like Masterpiece Theater or BBC America, this film is definitely for you.
08/15/02
Thin and entirely ill-conceived adaptation.
08/15/02
The film wants to be The English Patient but doesn't have the elements that made that film a classic.
08/15/02
"Possession" weaves together two love stories, a mystery and a satire, but only two of its four strands take hold.
08/15/02
On its own cinematic terms, it successfully showcases the passions of both the director and novelist Byatt.
08/15/02
Top CriticIt's refreshing to see a movie with faith that we'll sit still for a conversation about something other than skateboarding.
08/15/02
Possession is Elizabeth Barrett Browning meets Nancy Drew, and it's directed by... Neil LaBute. Hmm.
08/15/02
Stripped almost entirely of such tools as nudity, profanity and violence, LaBute does manage to make a few points about modern man and his problematic quest for human connection.
08/15/02
LaBute can't avoid a fatal mistake in the modern era: He's changed the male academic from a lower-class Brit to an American, a choice that upsets the novel's exquisite balance and shreds the fabric of the film.
08/15/02
Top CriticThe cold distance that LaBute brings to the material keeps the viewer at arms' length.
08/15/02
A bad French Lieutenant's Woman-like romance.
08/15/02
It's a tossup as to which love story is more compelling, since all four romantic leads are excellent.
08/15/02
Possession may be LaBute's attempt to do something new, but it's our opportunity to enjoy something tried and true.
08/15/02
Top CriticIf Byatt's novel is a savory read for litterateurs, LaBute's film is an equivalent gift to summer moviegoers starved for elegant entertainment.
08/15/02
A romantic melodrama teeming with lust, love, guilt, and raw passion, all wrapped in the splendid visuals provided by cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier.
08/15/02
Top CriticWatching Possession is a movie experience not much deeper than you'd get on your couch watching Masterpiece Theater or Mystery! -- pleasant enough, but oh so soft.
08/15/02
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