As an idealistic American poet living in England during her college years,
Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) enjoyed her freedom and adventure, but was
disheartened by the cruel reactions to her work. It was there that Sylvia met
fellow poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig, "Road To Perdition"), and the two began a
tender courtship, which eventually evolved into marriage and parenthood. But
Sylvia's mental framework was fractured, and her increasing paranoia about Ted's
infidelities, as well as her own creative block, festered to such a boiling
point that suicide seemed like the only way out.
For starters, the film is titled "Sylvia," (IMDb listing) not "Sylvia Plath," forgoing any
notion that this will be a thorough expose on the famous poet and her
relationship with love, sanity, and words. Director Christine Jeffs ("Rain")
angles the bio-pic on Sylvia Plath's domestic life, not her written
accomplishments, which is bound to disappoint Plath fans everywhere. During the
course of the picture, we do see Plath as she creates; forming a love of poetry
that compensates for some of her romantic and emotional troubles. But her other
endeavors, most famously her novel "The Bell Jar," are pushed to the backburner
in favor of attempting to fictionalize the neuroses and seething jealousy that
consumed Plath until the day she decided to end it all.
While the lack of a literary perspective is sorely missed, Plath's life more
than lends itself to absorbing drama. Gwyneth Paltrow takes on the difficult
role of Plath, and she does a terrific job maintaining the nagging insecurities
that afflicted the poet, along with the jubilation she felt when her words
connected to herself as well as the outside world. It's a typically mesmerizing
performance from Paltrow, overcoming the often tiring recurrence of Plath's
jealousy of her husband, Ted Hughes, as well as her deepening depression. There
is no shortage of scenes depicting Plath's weakening mental state, hammered down
hard by Jeffs over and over again. But Paltrow shines when the film occasionally
turns either redundant or melodramatic.
I left "Sylvia" with a nagging feeling that there were pieces missing. Without
the crucial literary aspects of Plath's life, "Sylvia" is more soap opera than
true biographical filmmaking. And while this is a convincing drama and a
flawlessly acted picture, it doesn't come together as urgently as Plath's own
life.
Filmfodder Grade: B