Sylvia

An appropriately moody, gray, and madly passionate ode to the misery-embracing, famously suicidal author and poetess Sylvia Plath (evocatively played by Gwyneth Paltrow), this biopic nonetheless paints a very incomplete picture of its subject's life and hasn't much to offer anyone who isn't already well-versed in Plath lore. With only a few scattered, out-of-context quotes from her works, Sylvia provides little sense of the writer's talent, while the storytelling itself sometimes feels like Cliff Notes (after a year of pregnancy, poverty, marital problems, and writer's block, Plath is suddenly seen at her own book-launching party). More significantly, director Christine Jeffs (Rain) never shows us the roots of Plath's neuroses, paranoia, and depression--the elements that inspired her gut-wrenching poetry. Rather, Plath's fervent romance with fellow poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig) becomes the narrative focus, and the eventual upheaval of their marriage is presented as the catalyst that pushed her over the edge. Beyond that, Sylvia skirts Plath's real life (her children are barely props) and has nothing to say about the literature that justifies this movie's existence. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)