So unabashedly romantic and passionately goofy that it not only confirms LaBute as one of America's great talents but also clocks in as one of the year's best American films.
Comment
08/19/02
Possession (2002)
64
%
Tomatometer
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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.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Dramas
US 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
Reviews for Possession
81 - 100 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
'Possession,' based on the book by A.S. Byatt, demands that LaBute deal with the subject of love head-on; trading in his cynicism for reverence and a little wit
08/19/02
As directed by Neil LaBute, there's no visual enchantment to accompany the heightened prose.
08/19/02
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08/18/02
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08/18/02
There's no point in extracting the bare bones of Byatt's plot for purposes of bland Hollywood romance.
08/18/02
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08/18/02
A guilty pleasure, like chocolate truffles.
08/18/02
Can satisfy one's desire to experience a decent love story.
08/18/02
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08/18/02
Just about everything in this dry bit of business seems limp, building toward a poorly staged scene in a graveyard, which could be just where this slumbering bit of folly will land.
08/18/02
A captivating excursion in which a fascination with literary academia spawns a lushly romantic tale that's impossible to resist.
08/18/02
A literate, delicately woven romantic drama that plays itself out more as a book would than a movie.
08/17/02
This ambitious film about yearning registers on the senses and offers some interesting insights into sexual politics in different eras.
08/17/02
A shockingly horrid effort from acclaimed writer-director Neil LaBute, who does much better work when his characters spend their time being nasty to each other.
08/16/02
Neil LaBute has taken another large and confident step into an unexpected genre with gratifying results.
08/16/02
What's supposed to be a deep examination of the transcendence of love and art and poetry turns into another shallow film about how repressed the British are.
08/16/02
Top CriticPossession, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.
08/16/02
Top CriticIt may be faint praise, but praise nonetheless, to say that LaBute (and co-writers Laura Jones and David Henry Hwang) have done the best they can with A.S. Byatt's Booker-winning 1990 novel.
08/16/02
LaBute's trademark bite is absent here -- his movie feels trivial next to the book that inspired it.
08/16/02
Latest News for Possession
August 31, 2006:
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