POSSESSION (2010) *

Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in this tepid, tedious supernatural drama from Yari Film Group.  Yari went bankrupt before the film’s release, causing it to sit on the shelf for a few years.  It should’ve stayed there.  No, in fact the shelf is too good for Possession.  It belongs in the trash. 

Possession has nothing to do with the Isabelle Adjani movie.  It has nothing to do with the Gwyneth Paltrow one either.  It has everything to do with being the movie equivalent of chloroform.  One whiff of this flick and you’ll be out like a light.

Jess (Gellar) takes her doting husband Ryan (Michael Landes) for granted, mostly because his fuck-up brother Roman (Lee Pace) lives with them.  Jess used to be Roman’s parole officer, which makes it even more awkward.  When the brothers are involved in a car crash, it results with both of them in coma.  While Ryan lay comatose, Roman awakens claiming to be his brother.  Jess is skeptical, but Roman seems to know things only she and Ryan would know.  Has Ryan’s spirit somehow become mixed up inside Roman’s body, or is Roman (who has a history of abuse) just putting her through some sort of elaborate mental torture?

Possession does that thing where nothing happens for the longest time.  You sit there hoping it’ll get better, waiting for some kind of payoff.  When the payoff finally comes, it’s so tame that it wouldn’t even scare your grandmother.  (It would look right at home on Lifetime.)  By that time, it’s hard to care either way if it is some sort of supernatural B.S. or just Pace playing head games with Gellar.  

One interesting thing to note:  Pace plays a dude named Roman in this movie and he played a guy named Ronan in The Guardians of the Galaxy.  Okay, that’s not interesting at all, but I’ve got a word count to hit here. 

AKA:  Shuffle 2:  Exchange.