Possession

Title: Possession
Release: 2009
Starring: Sarah Michelle Geller and Lee Pace
Written by: Michael Petroni and Won-mi Byun
Directed by: Joel Bergvall and Simon Sandquist
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Price: Available from Amazon Marketplace from £5.78 at time of posting (only available in Region 1)

Plot: Jess (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Ryan (Michael Landes) are a young married couple. Ryan’s aggressive and troubled brother, Roman (Lee Pace), is living with them, despite the fact that Jess is terrified of him, and he clearly displays sexual interest in her. When Ryan and Roman are involved in a car accident, both lie comatose… until Roman wakes up, claiming to be Ryan, in possession of Roman’s body. It could be that Roman has had a psychological break, occasioned by the accident, his unstable state of mind, and his obsession with Jess. It could be that he’s just pretending, fulfilling a wish he had expressed to his girlfriend to change himself and live a different, better life, more like that of his brother. Or he could really be Ryan, in possession of Roman’s body.

Roman (Ryan?) tries to convince Jess that he really is her husband

Most of the film concerns an exploration of this mystery, as Roman (or Ryan?) slowly convinces Jess that he is really her husband.

Is it any good?

I’m not going to lie, I probably would never have found this film if I wasn’t on a Lee Pace hit. It’s not well-known, and after difficulties with the production company, was never released in the cinema. On the other hand, the plot is right up my alley. Good man trapped in the body of an ostensibly bad/dangerous man – that’s my kind of angst, and it doesn’t hurt that the body in question is that of the beautiful Lee Pace.

It could have been unutterably painful. Body-swap stories are often filled with embarrassing moments played for humour, but missing the mark. This isn’t a comedy, so intentional humour was unlikely, but all credit should be given to both Geller and Pace for bringing really convincing and captivating portrayals. There’s no question in my mind that the actors make this movie. I had some concerns about Geller – I loved her in Buffy, but her film career has been less than stellar. This time, though, I felt she’d really pulled it off, full of all the understated power of her best moments under Whedon’s direction, but moving away from the pretty teenage icon into something more mature.

Gratuitous semi-naked Lee Pace

Geller is also an excellent match for Pace, who excels, both in the unsympathetic role of Roman, and in his change to the more familiar Pace-style role of the sweet and loving artist. I’ll admit, I was watching for angst, knowing how well Pace can bring that, but I was pleased to see him explore a fuller range and show that he can bring something intimidating and distinctly unappealing to the table, also.

In the absence of the performances, however, this is really nothing special. It does what it says on the tin. Of course, some of what it says is that it’s a suspense movie where you don’t quite know how it’s going to work out, but I wasn’t terribly surprised about where it went in the end. I’ll avoid spoiling it for you by saying whether Pace’s character turns out to be Ryan or Roman at the end of the film, but let’s just say that it wasn’t really where I would have chosen to take it, although Geller and Pace really sell it as a resolution.

There’s also much to be desired from the musical score, which is over-dramatic and intrusive. Combined with the copious tattoos and ridiculous goatee Roman sports at the start of the film the music leaves us in little doubt about how we’re supposed to initially feel towards Roman, especially in regard to his feelings for Jess. It’s belaboured and tiresome. The script isn’t bad – it has some depth and interest, but it’s lucky to have found itself in the possession of two such capable actors in what would otherwise be a very mediocre film.

All in all, Possession is a much better film than it has any right to be. It will probably be forgotten in the mists of films that went straight to DVD, and that’s a shame. It’s particularly a shame for Geller, who’s really proving her metal in a quality performance that almost no one will ever see. If you like Lee Pace, or share my taste for beautiful men engaging in understated angst, this film is genuinely worth your time. If you like psychological thrillers, you may enjoy it, too. In the game of suspense films that mess with your head about personal identity, it’s no Primal Fear, but it’s certainly worth a go.

Reviewing Through the Time Machine: Pushing Daisies

Title: Pushing Daisies
Original Run: 2007-2009
Starring: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride and Kristin Chenoweth
Created By: Bryan Fuller
Genre: Comedy-drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Quirky/Odd-ball
Awards: Nominated for 57 awards, including 17 Emmy Awards; Won 18 Awards, including 7 Emmy Awards
Price: Season 1: £5.99; Season 2: £9.99 (Amazon prices at time of posting)

The most beautiful, funny, poignant, stylish, and original television show ever to get axed.

Premise: Ned has an unusual gift: he can touch dead things and bring them back to life… but only for a minute. If he touches them again, they go back to being dead, but if he leaves them alive for more than a minute then something else has to die in their place. Ned discovered his power as a child when his dog Digby was run-over, and learned the limitations on his power when his mother died, suddenly. He restored her to life, but at the cost of his childhood sweetheart’s father, who died in her place. He grows up to become a pie-maker who avoids close personal attachments, for fear of what he might do if someone he loved were to die. A private detective named Emerson Cod discovered his power, and now Ned works with Emerson to solve mysteries by waking the dead (but only for a minute!) and asking them who killed them.

But when Chuck (aka Charlotte Charles), dies in mysterious circumstances, Ned cannot stop himself from bringing her back, for good. As Chuck helps Ned and Emerson investigate her own murder, she and Ned renew their affections for one another; the only trouble is… they can never touch. Or Chuck will die again, this time, forever.

Why you should love it

Pushing Daisies achieves an unlikely, but perfect balance. Its bright colours, cartoonishly surreal style, and impossibly sweet hopeless romance could very easily be sickeningly saccharine, and yet it is not. Similarly, the morbid subject matter could just as easily be too grim and depressing for a light-hearted comedy. However, together, each provides a perfect counter-balance to the other, producing something so quirky and wonderful and dark and heart-warming that it is like no other show I have ever seen.

Every element is in harmony. The casting could not be more spot on. Lee Pace is an inspired choice for the sweet, physically awkward Ned. Anna Friel positively glows off the screen as Chuck, effusing exactly the renewed zest for life needed for a woman who spent most of her life cooped up looking after her shut-in aunts before being killed on the cruise that was her first independent venture into the world. Kristin Chenoweth deserves every bit of her two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Olive, the diminutive waitress who has long pined for Ned, and the foot and a half difference in height between them provides the perfect opportunity for some sweet and well-played physical comedy. Chi McBride’s sarcastic but good-hearted Emerson Cod grounds the show with a dash of practicality.

Much credit should be given to the costume and visual design, which perfectly complements the vibrant surreality of the show. This is probably the most stylish television programme I have ever seen (although Mad Men offers some stiff competition from a different genre). Accents of 1950s and 60s fashion are mixed with something thoroughly modern in joyfully bright colours that speak of the fairytale undertones whilst lightening the darker elements of the show.

Most of all, the fast-paced and snappy script is both witty and poignant as it brings the characters to life, exploring their unusual issues and unveiling the weekly mystery they must solve.

This show was always going to hit a sweet spot for me. The Ned/Chuck romance with its associated angst is just exactly the sort of thing I like to curl up with, and you guys know how I adore someone with superpowers who is forced to hide his ability. But Pushing Daisies is never weighed down by its angsty elements; it soars with them to new heights, and somehow always leaves you at the end of the episode somehow feeling better about the world. Because even if their world is not our world, wonderful men and women alive in our world dreamt it up.

Moreover, it’s a wonderful programme for race and gender, for the most part because it doesn’t make a fuss of them. Although the two leads are white, it is otherwise unusually racially diverse for an American TV show, Emerson Cod being just one of several black men and women, and although he’s the only non-white show regular, many of the guest stars are Asian or latino. There are also more female regulars than men, which is very unusual, and although there are romantic plotlines, Pushing Daisies passes the Bechdel Test so well it’s not even an issue. Yet this is not a show with any overt feminist themes, it’s just a show that thinks about people in terms of their characters first, not their genders.

It is a true loss to the world that this show was cut short. Its ample awards demonstrate that the brevity of its run is not a reflection of its quality or critical reception. It was just a victim of the writer’s strike. Its first season was cut in half, and it wasn’t able to build on its early success to develop the following that would ensure viewing figures to satisfy the networks in its second season. This is nothing but an act of short-sightedness on the part of executives who dismissed the shows clear potential for future growth on the basis of present figures at a very difficult time. Not that I’m bitter, or anything.

Anyway. If there’s one new TV show you want to try this year, make it this one. Just get it. £6 will get you the whole first season. You could spend more at the cinema getting a headache from a poorly made 3D film. And if you’re worried about the inevitable lack of resolution for a show cut short: Bryan Fuller has been working on a comic to tie up the story.

Besides, Lee Pace is very pretty.