Despite the good looking production values, "Possession" is really another take on a romance novel spiced up with some supernatural and thriller elements which both come straight off the assembly line. Ditsy beauty Sarah Michelle Gellar (playing Jessica) has the perfect marriage with Ryan (Michael Landes), but what she really wants is to have sex with bad boy Roman (Lee Pace). That's why Gellar looks scared and turned on at the same time when Roman is around. Then by the wildest of coincidences, two car accidents occur on what appears to be the scenic San Francisco Bridge. And you guessed it: Ryan conveniently stays in a coma, but bad boy Roman emerges from the coma and claims to be Jessica's husband. Now all Jessica had to really do was to point out the obvious to Roman: he does not look like Jessica's husband Ryan at all. But if that happened, then Jessica would never have the opportunity to have sex with Roman and the rest of the film would have been unnecessary. So Jessica convinces herself that Roman is possessed by the spirit of Ryan and has the best sex ever. Then comes the twist which shatters all of Jessica's delusions. At this point, Jessica must disavow Roman altogether or else admit that she really does like to have adultery. Then comes the predictable confrontation. Jessica re-establishes herself unconvincingly as the good girl who would never dream of having sex with a bad boy by telling Roman that she only slept with him because she thought he was someone else. Yeah sure!
So if you are interested in romance novels with bad boys in them, you may like this film. But if you want a film which is not straight off the assembly line and has multi-layered, intelligent, and evolving characters who do and say interesting things in exciting situations, then give "Possession" a pass.
So if you are interested in romance novels with bad boys in them, you may like this film. But if you want a film which is not straight off the assembly line and has multi-layered, intelligent, and evolving characters who do and say interesting things in exciting situations, then give "Possession" a pass.