Bathed in golden autumnal light, one of the most famous literary love stories of the twentieth century is laid out before us in broad strokes: bright young Fullbright student Plath falls for fellow poet Ted Hughes (growly-voiced Daniel Crag), the two spent hazy evenings with friends and words (egging each other one with shouts of "faster!"), and recite Chaucer to a bunch of cows.
The pastoral idyll doesn't last: upon their return to America, the newly wed couple faces worry and difficulty. Hughes wins awards while Plath collects rejection slips. Literary groupies threaten to steal Plath's husband, and writing is hard when you have to care for screaming babies.
Surrounded with spot-on décor and dressed in fetching period dresses, Paltrow gives the role of Plath her characteristic warm glow in the early, happy scenes, and successfully lowers the register as Plath becomes increasingly depressed, despondent, and enthralled with her own suicidal suffering.
Jeffs directs with the same close attention and distinctive visual style that made her debut "Rain" a worthwhile film.
