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.
Review of Earthly Possessions
