Earthly Possessions

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Ann Tyler film
Review: Although Susan Sarandon is older than the character of Charlotte was originally written to be, her charismatic and intelligent acting and intense chemistry with Stephen Dorff, in a role he could have been born to play, make this Tyler filmization work beautifully. The style of this escapist-roadtrip might be light-hearted (despite it revolving around a bankrobber kidnapping an innocent bystander), peppered with great supporting characters, but the emotions and complicated bonds that arise are wonderfully deep and inspiring. This is really about people who start out wrong and end up right, each discovering his/her own strengths and place in life. I especially like how un-ageist the story is... none of the three main characters, ranging decades apart in age, seem to have any emotional bias about each other when you might think they would... there is a sudden equality established between middle-aged desperate housewife, young confused troublemaker, and pregnant not-so-ditzy teenager that casts a warm glow over all the tangled proceedings that ensue from their paths crossing fatefully. The scenarios are typically Tyler-quirky so you will probably not recognize these characters as being just like your next door neighbor... but it is great fun to go on the ride with them. Fine acting from the lead stars down to the last cameo-character actor! And, ultimately, a moving romance.

Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: I loved this movie! Stephen Dorff does an all around great job in acting the part of jake simms. I am a big fan of his work and hope that he keeps on following up movies that are as great as this one.

Rating:
Summary: All around good movie
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. Sarandon and Dorff were excellent together. I found this movie had a little bit of everything in it, comedy,drama and romance. I felt the two stars played off each other very well. Sarandon is always good and Stephen Dorff....he's a great actor, I wish he was in more movies. Every movie I've seen him in he was great, he seems to play every part well. His performance in "Blade" was fantastic as was his performance in this film. He's a very versitile actor. I enjoy watching movies where the actors don't seem to be reading from a script, and this was one of those movies. I think this is a movie that will appeal to a wide age range. My only fault with this movie was the ending(no I won't tell), I just wish it had ended differently. I work in a video store and plan to recommend this to my customers as well as to all of you. I feel this movie is worth seeing.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Out With Promise But Quickly Fizzles
Review: I watched this film during my " obsession " with Stephen Dorff. I fell in love with him after I saw " Blade " and from that point made it my mission to see every film he'd ever been in or was going to be in. I saw this when it debuted on HBO and I was disappointed. I have nothing against Susan Sarandon and everyone knows she's a very nice person and a fine actress, but she wasn't truly Charlotte. Susan Sarandon comes off as too strong of a person to play such a meek lady. Whenever I looked at her I saw roles from " White Castle " and " Thelma and Louise ". I couldn't buy Susan as a woman who had to run from her husband no matter how many bad dresses they put her in.

The film was based on Anne Tyler's novel. I found the movie better than the novel but that isn't saying much. Alot of things were changed for the screen. I don't remember Charlotte and Jake being romantically involved in the book. Susan and Stephen had no chemistry. Why do filmmakers insist on making a romance when there doesn't need to be one? I appreciated the conversations when she seemed to look out for him like a mother would. But that was ruined when they threw in the lame sex in a cheap motel. This was not fair to the characters. Jake was too hyped up and alarmed about his baby to start having sex with a woman he didn't know. Charlotte was a church going woman who wouldn't have touched Jake with a ten-foot pole. The romance factor wasn't believable and turned the movie from sensible to fluff.

I wished they could have spent more time on the road because that was the most entertaining. Once they picked up Mindy, I was asleep. I tried to give this film a chance but seeing how the book was less than average, I sort of got what was coming to me. Stephen Dorff is always a terrific actor. No one can make a character become their own like him. He and Susan would have been a knock-out duo on another kind of movie. This one came up short. It's a nice little family movie and it has all the usual sappiness of many chick films. But THIS chick felt it could have been a lot better.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Out With Promise But Quickly Fizzles
Review: I watched this film during my " obsession " with Stephen Dorff. I fell in love with him after I saw " Blade " and from that point made it my mission to see every film he'd ever been in or was going to be in. I saw this when it debuted on HBO and I was disappointed. I have nothing against Susan Sarandon and everyone knows she's a very nice person and a fine actress, but she wasn't truly Charlotte. Susan Sarandon comes off as too strong of a person to play such a meek lady. Whenever I looked at her I saw roles from " White Castle " and " Thelma and Louise ". I couldn't buy Susan as a woman who had to run from her husband no matter how many bad dresses they put her in.

The film was based on Anne Tyler's novel. I found the movie better than the novel but that isn't saying much. Alot of things were changed for the screen. I don't remember Charlotte and Jake being romantically involved in the book. Susan and Stephen had no chemistry. Why do filmmakers insist on making a romance when there doesn't need to be one? I appreciated the conversations when she seemed to look out for him like a mother would. But that was ruined when they threw in the lame sex in a cheap motel. This was not fair to the characters. Jake was too hyped up and alarmed about his baby to start having sex with a woman he didn't know. Charlotte was a church going woman who wouldn't have touched Jake with a ten-foot pole. The romance factor wasn't believable and turned the movie from sensible to fluff.

I wished they could have spent more time on the road because that was the most entertaining. Once they picked up Mindy, I was asleep. I tried to give this film a chance but seeing how the book was less than average, I sort of got what was coming to me. Stephen Dorff is always a terrific actor. No one can make a character become their own like him. He and Susan would have been a knock-out duo on another kind of movie. This one came up short. It's a nice little family movie and it has all the usual sappiness of many chick films. But THIS chick felt it could have been a lot better.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious duo
Review: It was nice to see Stephen Dorff do something other than bad guy roles. The chemistry between him and Susan Sarandon is wonderful and full of laughter. I recommend this one for those who just need to escape and laugh a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the book!
Review: There's something to really be loved about this film. Initially I had plans on watching it because it stars Stephen Dorff, who is one of my all-time favorite actors, but since I didn't have HBO, I had a friend of mine record it for me (later I got the DVD) and I even decided to go pick up the book before I watched the movie. To my surprise, I enjoyed the movie a LOT more than the book. Though the book has it's good points, it alternates between the present and the past, and I tended to get a bit bored with the past part. Not only that, but the film has added romance, which gives it an extra special flair. I found myself much more satisfied with the film, in the end. It's fun, it's funny, and it's *surprisingly* very good.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly terrific film
Review: This film stays in my mind long after I was touched by it. It is a whimsical, almost farcical trip after a sort-of bungled burgalry that becomes a subtle and powerful interplay between the main chararcters. I especially appraciated the irony of Susan Sarandon trying to "help" the theif while revealing her own fears, demons, dependencies, etc. So so human, quirky, real.

Rating:
Summary: Very good movie with excellent performances
Review: This is a good road movie, I really enjoyed it. What makes this movie good is without a doubt the great acting from its two stars. Susan Sarandon and Stephen Dorff are excellent in their roles as kidnapper and hostage. The movie is also funny at times and very serious at times which I really like. Stephen Dorff is a very good actor and if he keeps doing roles like this one he could very easily follow in the steps of Johnny Depp which is one of my favorite actors. Susan Sarandon is always good and this film is really worth the time again the acting is excellent and is the reason to see this movie.