Possession (4 Stars)

There have been so many films about a person being possessed by a spirit over the years, but can a possession be benevolent? "Possession", a remake of a Korean film, attempts to answer this question.

Jess, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, is a defence attorney who lives in a small town near San Francisco. (I tried to figure out where by looking at the scenery, but the film was actually shot in Canada). She defends a man called Roman accused of violent assault. He's sentenced to 60 days in prison followed by three years probation, during which he's not allowed to leave California. But Jess isn't just a lawyer, she's a woman. During the trial she meets and falls in love with Roman's older brother Ryan and marries him six months later.

The marriage itself is happy. Ryan is a sensitive, romantic artist who works as a sculptor. That isn't enough to pay the bills, but Jess's salary is enough for them. There's only one shadow over their relationship. Ryan has agreed to let Roman live with him during his probation period. Roman is short-tempered and has frequent violent outbursts.

The two brothers get into a car accident because of Roman's reckless driving. They're both left in a coma. After a few weeks Roman wakes up, and he claims to be Ryan. Despite the proof -- he has Ryan's memories and his personality has now become gentle -- Jess believes it's a trick, and she suffers greatly having to share a house with him while he declares his love for her.

Interestingly, the film was originally made closely following the plot of the Korean original, but when it was finished it was decided that the story wouldn't work in America, so the last 30 minutes of the film were rewritten and refilmed, completely changing the film's outcome. The Blu-ray disc contains the original ending, so you can decide for yourself which is better.

"Possession" was plagued with problems that were nothing to do with the film itself. It was due to be released in 2007. Trailers were shown in cinemas, but the film was never shown. The studio that made the film, Yari Film Group, went into bankruptcy before the film could be released, and their assets were seized. It looked like the original tapes were destined to be left on a shelf and forgotten, but two years later 20th Century Fox bought the film for a bargain price. Big studios think differently to independent studios, and Fox considered it too risky to release "Possession" theatrically because Sarah Michelle Gellar has too little box office pulling power. In 2010 it was finally released on DVD and Blu-ray.

There seems to be a curse on Sarah Michelle Gellar. In the late 1990's and early 2000's she seemed destined to big fame. Her breakthrough was the title role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", which is still considered to be her signature role. She was also successful in "Cruel Intentions" (1999) and the Scooby Doo films (2002 and 2004). Since then she's practically disappeared. Eight films in 13 years isn't a lot for someone tipped to become an A-List actress. What's gone wrong with her career?

Partly it's been her choice of films. She's tried to get away from horror films by appearing in intellectual thrillers like "The Return" and "The Air I breathe". There's nothing wrong with that in itself. Other big Hollywood stars like Jesse Eisenberg make intellectual thrillers. The trouble is that films like that don't usually make much money. It's okay for a big star to occasionally take a risk with films like that in between his blockbusters, but for someone struggling to establish herself it's a bad choice of genre. Sarah really ought to get herself a recurring role in a big budget franchise, but I fear it's too late. The studio bosses, who are more interested in money than artistic quality, just look at the average box office takings from Sarah's last few films, and it's not enough to impress them. She's not bankable.

Another problem is Sarah Michelle Gellar's clean image. She's a good girl who never gets into scandals. She's been married to the actor Freddie Prinze Jr for 15 years, and there hasn't even been a hint of an affair all this time. In today's shallow society actors need scandals to get ahead. No scandal means no news. The general public has lost interest in Sarah. That's sad but true.

Sarah is now 40, and her career has sunk to providing the voices for animated films and video games. She's doing the jobs that 20-year-olds do when they're trying to make a start in acting. She has too much talent to be in this position, but I fear she might remain in this rut for the rest of her life.

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