Possession: The Movie

 Disclaimer: I fully understand that movies aren't books and movies have to make money and I will try to limit any 'but the book was better' stuff.

While I did enjoy watching the movie as its own thing, I stand by my opinion that Gwynneth and Eckhart were badly cast, him more so than her. Part of why I think she was badly cast is probably my personal dislike for her, and that's not entirely fair, but I do think it would be better to have cast someone actually English. Even though Lena Headey was a great Blanche I think she could have also been a spot on Maude. I'm really glad that with the casting on Eckhart they made the character American although I think my ideal casting would have been Ben Chaplin. He's who I pictured when I was reading the book.

The Victorian half of the plot was done really well. Like I said I thought Blanche was well-cast and I think this was my introduction to Jennifer Ehle, who was fantastic as Christabel. I really need to get on top of watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice. Also I could basically just stare at Jeremy Northam in period costumes all day and be perfectly happy. He was perhaps a little better looking and warmer than I had pictured Ash being but I think that's an ok concession for the movie version to make; worth noting but not worth complaining about.
In addition to losing characters by changing the plot slightly, the story was also sexed-up a bit and told less subtly. Roland and Maud are more expressive about their relationship than they are in the book, which is, again, probably an acceptable movie concession. By sexed-up I mean primarily that Ash is portrayed as a more romantic character than in the book; specifically by showcasing his love poems more than his geological or mythological poems. As for actual sex the film was faithful to what happened in the book.

I did miss seeing Val as a character but it makes sense to cut out that story-line although I was kind of surprised that with the lawyer character still being included he wasn't utilized more. I also didn't really  like Roland's whole 'off women' thing as an explanation for why he doesn't have a girlfriend. I suppose that does kind of play into his wanting the clean white bed and more freedom but it was still kind of an odd choice.

Finally, I really wish they'd included Beatrice Nest. She's a really interesting character and I think her protectiveness over Ellen Ash's journal was a good parallel to the protectiveness the Victorian characters felt about their personal correspondence. She also was the foil for Cropper being, essentially, his exact opposite.