Earthly Possessions

There are real sparks here between Sarandon and Dorff and their performances give Earthly Possessions some real emotional weight. I've never been much impressed with Dorff in the past, but playing against Sarandon seems to lift him to a new level as an actor. His physicality serves him well in this role and Jake's hotheaded moments are both funny and slightly threatening (a hard line to walk). Sarandon builds her character so effortlessly that all of Charlotte's personality just magically appears before the viewer. Is there anything she can't do as an actress? The screenplay shows some big changes from Anne Tyler's book, but it does do a good job of capturing the novel's quirky mix of drama and comedy. Many people mention dissatisfaction with the movie's ending and I felt it too. In the novel the ending feels natural and right, but it's as if this screenplay didn't quite take into account the sexual sparks that would be generated between the two leads. Because Sarandon and Dorff have this chemistry together and do such a great job showing the characters challenging each other to be better people, the inclusion of the girlfriend and the "earthly" resolution feel like intruders in a great romantic drama. It left me wishing that instead of an adaptation of Tyler's book (which deals with taking responsibility for choices), the movie was just a continuation of Charlotte and Jake's journey together. In the movie, you just KNOW that their being together is right, even if this isn't the message in the screenplay; that difference leaves the viewer dissatisfied. In a way though, it is more satisfying that the movie doesn't have a pat ending and Charlotte and Jake's relationship is more complicated than it has to be. Movies that challenge our expectations are rare enough these days.

Not one viewer has commented on the age difference between Dorff and Sarandon...I can't believe it. My daughter and I watched this together, and couldn't wait to get online to check out their birthdates. 1946 and 1973....hard to get past that! The movie itself was awesome...fun and easy to imagine (or wish) that this could truly take place. Sarandon did a SUPER job with her role...a very believable bored wife. Dorff...well, he's Stephen Dorff...what more needs to be said!? He's a great actor who could get by on his looks but doesn't have to. Their interaction is wonderful. Makes a girl think she should hang out in banks until this happens for real!

I watched the DVD version. It is an HBO production. While the picture and sound were fine, it was not even in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, which is a big disappointment. Plus, there were no "extras" on the DVD. The story was sometimes believable, but most of the time it seemed like the actors were "acting" to make this movie. Susan Sarandon was really good in this so-so story but I can overall only give it 5 of 10 rating. The end left me asking "is that all there is??"

Well, I rented this film because I like "Hostage and Kidnapper fall in love" kind of movies and I must say I wasn't too disappointed. I didn't expect a brilliant film, and it wasn't, but it was still quite enjoyable. Susan Sarandon is amazing, as always. Stephen Dorff is (without sounding too shallow) really cute. Together, they produce a pretty fine dynamic. I too was disappointed by the ending, but I still liked the film. What can I say, I always fall for those cute kidnappers...

I thought this was quite a good movie. It stirred something in me.

I thought that Charlotte and Jake had real passion. I found myself laughing because of the ridiculousness of some of the stuff that they did.... picturing people in their situation doing the things they did.

I really liked it because it was so different and unpredictable. I was very disappointed with the ending though.