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Possessed by this movie

Gotham Night | 06/10/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jess and her husband, Ryan, have it all. A great marriage, a beautiful home, and she is a successful lawyer. Life is good - until Ryan's prodigal brother, Roman, is jailed for assault and is now out on parole. He has to stay with his brother and his wife during his probation period, but he and Ryan are like night and day. Ryan loves his brother and wants to support him despite his violent background and bad attitude. Roman is not beyond redemption, he just had a bad past relationship with his father and doesn't know how to deal with his anger and resentment. Jess does not like Roman, he frightens her, and she wants him out of the house. Ryan cannot throw his own brother out after all he's been through. Roman overhears their argument one day regarding this and leaves on his own, his belongings in trash bags slung over his shoulder as Jess looks on. She calls Ryan and tells him Roman has left the house. Roman is not supposed to leave the state. Ryan says he is going to return home immediately and as he is crossing the Golden Gate bridge, he is trying to call his brother Roman, unaware that Roman is on that very same bridge heading right toward him from the opposite direction. The fog is thick, Roman is driving recklessly and as he passes a car, his own brother is in his path and they collide. Moments later they are both laying on the road, unconcious and badly injured. They are taken to the hospital and put in the same room together, still unconcious, their faces badly bruised, so much so that Jess cannot tell which man is her husband.

And therein lies the rub, as they say, in this suspenseful thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace, and Michael Landes. It is a story about love, loss, loyalty, redemption, deception, second chances, and forgiveness. This film goes a lot deeper into the human psyche than most thrillers normally do. It asks, `Can love heal all past hurts?' It also confronts the viewer with the question - `Can one become so lonely and wracked with grief over the loss of a loved one that your morality and all that you believe in can be disregarded in order to have the comfort of love once again?'

Lee Pace is heartbreakingly wonderful in the role of Roman and Sarah Michelle is very believable as the wife who is caught in the middle of the emotional relationship between the two brothers. My only wish is that the directors and producers had the guts enough to use the alternative ending shown in the special features instead of the ending used in the actual film. But I guess I can applaud them for even considering such a thought provoking alternative ending to this movie, because it certainly deserved it. It leaves you wondering what you would do in Jess' place. I recommend this mainly for Lee Pace's heartfelt performance. Without his acting ability, it would have been a mediocre movie at best. I highly recommend "Possession".

"

Concept 10, Execution 3

DDR | Philadelphia | 06/25/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is so much right with Possession: Sarah Michelle Gellar is beautiful and affecting as Jess; Lee Pace is (psychologically) dark and sexy as Roman who might be Ryan, and Michael Landes is pitch-perfect as Jess's artistic, sensitive and loving husband, Ryan. The premise of a woman confronted with the possibility that the spirit of her beloved, comatose husband might now be residing in the body of her dangerous brother-in-law is outright fascinating and could have been mined for so much more than it is, here. I agree with those who said the alternate ending was better, but even there, Possession suffers from the fact that the directors couldn't decide if they were making a psychological horror film, a supernatural horror film, or a woman-in-danger thriller. They got that they were making a romance, but apparently became confused as to whether Pace or Landes should be the true object of Gellar's affections. Ignore the image on the DVD case which has more to do with the direction that the film should have taken than anything remotely related to the film as it was actually made (including deleted scenes and alternate endings). If you are a fan of any of the three actors, you'll want to see this film in which case you should definitely buy the DVD for the more emotionally satisfying alternate ending as the official ending manages to reassert the supernatural theme at the same time it leaves us in a logical and emotional limbo. If you are a fan of the original Korean film, Addicted, you will likely be disappointed in the westernization of a film with a very neat and unexpected twist at the end. I give this a rating of four primarily for the three leads and the atmosphere and the potential. Sadly, potential that is not quite realized."

A nice psychological thriller

Ben | 06/01/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost, the cover of the dvd does not tally at all with this film's theme. This is not a horror tale like "The Grudge" but rather, a psychological thriller with a romantic twist. It is nice to see Lee Pace in a different light, away from the "Pushing Daisies" persona. Sarah Michelle Gellar also did a tremendous job in this little known flick.
The plot is good and it is rare to find a film which deals with this kind of story. Buy!"

Possession or schizophrenia?

Alexandra Cenni | hamilton, nj USA | 05/15/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Possession starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Michael Landes (Final Destination 2) and Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) is the American remake of Korean director Young-hoon Park's 2007 movie "Addicted (Special Edition)". And like most American remakes of Asian films, something got lost in the translation.

Originally I had no idea that this was built off of Addicted, I was more interested in the fact that SMG, Michael Landes and Lee Pace were all in a movie together--separately I love them, I couldn't see a problem with seeing them altogether. Objectively speaking Possession isn't a horrible film. The storyline is a good one, the acting is fair and atmosphere was there aplenty. It falls apart with the narrative structure and pacing.

After the accident, when Roman(Pace) is convincing Jess(SMG) that he's her husband Ryan(Landes) Jess begins incredulous (and highly offended), but pretty quickly it seems as if Roman's superficial evidence is breaking down her defenses. Grief certainly plays a part, but common sense seems to have fled completely.

Much is made of the difference between the ending that is attached to the movie and the alternate ending in the deleted scenes. Was it a better ending? I guess it depends on what you thought Jess believed. The two endings are very different for all 3 characters, but neither really fit in my opinion. In neither ending does it detail if what Roman/Ryan said was true (in regards to how she felt about Roman). One is highly ambiguous and the other teases at the possibility that what he said was true and she was hiding it. Also in one ending its more of a 'supernatural' twist then the other.

The movie as a whole isn't very supernatural, its definitely more of a psychological thriller, but there would be odd little flashes where it almost seems like they wanted to hint at there being something supernatural at work, but didn't take the time to properly expand upon it.

I wouldn't suggest seeing this movie if you enjoyed Addicted. All the problems that Ring-u fans and Ju-on fans had in regards to the American remakes stands very true for this movie as well. However if you are a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar or Lee Pace, I'd encourage you to rent this movie. Lee Pace is wonderful and Sarah is enjoyable to watch as well."