Earthly Possessions

I like the opening scene in this movie, with a person walking down the street under an umbrella. It doesn´t get much more exciting than this though. This movie is about a woman who ends up being taken hostage by a young man during a bank robbery. Then they run away together, and get to know each other...

Even tough this, in the beginning anyway, is supposed to be a comedy I didn´t really laugh once during the whole movie. The story is pretty simple and the movie doesn´t feel really believable or original. But, if you are looking for 98 minutes of half descent (?) entertainment this one is o.k. (along with a whole lot of other movies out there).

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!

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.

When I think of Susan Sarandin I think of a hip, sexy, woman with no reserves about anything. It was really interesting to see her play a character so totally opposite. In this she is a virtual recluse in a town she has never left since girlhood, a non-Christian married to a Minister! On the day she plans to take her money from the bank and run she is taken hostage by(Jake) played by actor Stephen Dorff,a very appealing guy! .

Here is Susan, dressed as a frump ,trapped and in tow, by a confused and possibly dangerous handsome guy fresh out of prison. Their interaction and eventual meshing of opposites is FUN to experience in their day by day relationship. The situations are sometimes heartfelt, or sexy, or scary!

By the end, we see Susan as we all know Susan,dressed in red boots and a mini -skirt.

All the time through the film, Stephen Dorff's inner violence ,just under his calmer surface, smolders. What is he capable of? Is he mellow? Or a tiger?

There is a surprise "almost end" (I thought it was the end,) to the film that blows your mind, and it positively shocked me.

You need to see this movie. Maybe you can find it on eBay or Half.com. I hope so. I think you will enjoy it .

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??"