30 Second Bottom Line: Roland Mitchell (Aaron Eckhart) is an American scholar in London on a fellowship to study the poet Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam). Led to believe that there was an affair between Ash and Victorian poet Cristabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle), by a letter found in a book in the London Public Library, he tracks down British academic Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow) whose specialty is Christabel LaMotte's life.

Story Line: Maud Bailey is a brilliant English academic who is researching Christabel LaMotte and has a reputation of doing things by the book and being a "man-eater." Roland Mitchell is an energetic, upstart American scholar in London to research Randolph Henry Ash, who is best known for a collection of late life poems to his wife, which are being shown as an exhibit at the museum where Roland works.

After finding an undiscovered letter written by Ash in the London Public Library, which seems to be directed to Christabel LaMotte, Roland tracks down Maud to discover what really happened between Ash and LaMotte. Soon Maud and Roland are on a journey from England to France, finding clues about what really happened between Ash and LaMotte over a century earlier.

As Roland and Maud begin looking at clues, their relationship eerily echoes the one between Ash and LaMotte. Through flashbacks, we see the gradual relationship stages of the affair one hundred years ago. Then it cuts back to present time as we see the same events beginning to happen between the Roland and Maud. The more Maud and Roland discover about the life of Ash and LaMotte, the more their passion increases as well.

Tell Me More About It: Possession is a special film. After seeing The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Possession was like taking Tylenol for a bad headache. It is a special tale of the relationships between two different sets of people in two different centuries with no violence (well, almost no violence), that reminds me of what a good movie should be. It is supposed to make you care about the characters, while also developing them, and it is supposed to keep you interested for the entire movie. As an added bonus, the movie made me laugh out loud (mainly by Eckhart, who gives a knockout performance), intellectually stimulated me and made me sad. Part of that magic is because of the screenplay, but also because as Roland and Maud embark on their journey to discover what happened between Ash and LaMotte through undiscovered poems, real chemistry develops between them.

The flashback scenes are very well done as well. Jeremy Northam is excellent as the lovestruck Ash, who through his beautiful poetry can seduce a woman-a lesbian woman-named Christabel LaMotte. Jennifer Ehle as LaMotte also gives a very good and layered performance as someone who embarks on a passionate, romantic affair that has no easy way out. Ash was married at the time of the affair, and LaMotte was involved with another woman named Blanche Glover (Lena Headey).

Yet no matter how good the flashback scenes are, the present scenes are what steal the movie. Eckhart and Paltrow both give such good performances and have such good, witty dialogue, it makes you want to scream "sequel!'' At first their relationship is filled with tension, as Maud shuts down everything the American says, but as they embark on their journey and develop new theories on the relationship between Ash and LaMotte, their relationship develops, and the amazing on-screen chemistry between them really helps this connection.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find how many times I actually laughed in this movie, which though marketed as a serious romantic drama, which it is, also makes way for some good, light-hearted modern comedy between Eckhart and Paltrow. Also the cinematography and settings for this movie are wonderful. There are great locations in London and gorgeous locations in the English countryside in this film.

The director, Neil LaBute, also directed "In the Company of Men," "Your Friends and Neighbors'' and `'Nurse Betty." I haven't seen any of those films, but after seeing "Possession" I am eager to see all three. So, in a summer of blockbuster action movies, make way for a smaller movie like this to put a nice closure to a summer filled with good and bad movies. You won't regret it.

Maud Bailey: Gwyneth Paltrow:	Randolph Henry Ash: Jeremy Northam
Roland Mitchell: Aaron Eckhart:	Christabel LaMotte: Jennifer Ehle
Blanche Glover: Lena Headey

Aaron Eckhart: In the Company of Men	Neil LaBute: Nurse Betty
Gwyneth Paltrow: Shallow Hal	Jeremy Northam: The Net
Jennifer Ehle: Wilde	Lena Headey: Gossip