Sylvia

Paltrow gamely takes on the life of the talented but tortured American poet Sylvia Plath in Jeff's bummer biopic. Following Plath's seven-year marriage to English poet Ted Hughes (Craig) until her 1963 suicide in London at 30, pic deals impartially with the details of the affair that caused Plath to jettison Hughes. Also explores her mental illness and long-time grief over her father's death, as well as her conflicted feelings over the dueling roles of artist and wife/mother, and icon for budding feminist issues. Thoughtfully directed, although Paltrow doesn't quite get her teeth into the challenging role.