Possession ** (2002, Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Headey) – Classic Movie Review 1,713

Neil LaBute’s 2002 romantic mystery drama film Possession stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart, and is based on the 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author A S Byatt.

Co-writer/ director Neil LaBute’s 2002 romantic mystery drama film Possession stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart, and is based on the 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author A S Byatt.

A present-day pair of academics becomes embroiled in the hunt for proof that two Victorian poets were having a forbidden love affair. Despite compelling turns by Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart, the drama just doesn’t fire up and inspire in this intriguing and intelligent story.

Eckhart plays American scholar Roland Michell working in Britain, who finds a pair of love letters that belonged to one of his idols, a famous Victorian poet. Finding the poet’s lover was not his wife but another well-known poet, Michell joins forces with expert Dr Maud Bailey (Paltrow) to piece together the love story. But, meanwhile, they discover a love story of their own.

Toby Stephens plays the couple’s rival, Fergus Wolfe, who battles them for their discovery. Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle co-stars as the Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, while Lena Headey plays Blanche Glover.

Co-writer/ director Neil LaBute‘s 2002 film is a near miss thanks mainly to a screenplay based on A S Byatt’s novel that is interesting but not fully engrossing and direction that, while conscientious, lacks enough pace and shade.

Three early drafts of the screenplay were written by American playwright David Henry Hwang back in the 1990s. The final screenplay is credited as written by David Henry Hwang, Laura Jones and Neil LaBute.

A S Byatt is also known for Angels and Insects (1995), based on her 1992 pair of novellas Angels and Insects, published by Chatto & Windus.

The Booker Prize-winning author and critic A S Byatt died on 16 November 2023, aged 87, peacefully at home, surrounded by family.

Also known as Dame Antonia Byatt, the author won the revered Booker Prize for Fiction in 1990 for her novel Possession: A Romance.

The cast are Gwyneth Paltrow as Maud Bailey, Aaron Eckhart as Roland Michell, Jeremy Northam as Randolph Henry Ash, Jennifer Ehle as Christabel LaMotte, Lena Headey as Blanche Glover, Toby Stephens as Fergus Wolfe, Tom Hollander as Euan, Trevor Eve as Cropper, Tom Hickey as Blackadder, Graham Crowden as Sir George, Anna Massey as Lady Bailey, and Holly Aird as Ellen Ash.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1,713

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