IN THE COMPANY OF NEIL LABUTE DIRECTOR SUBSTANTIALLY SHIFTS FOCUS WITH 'POSSESSION'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Film director Blair Treu recalls running into his former Brigham Young University classmate Neil LaBute at the 1997 Sundance Film festival. LaBute had his debut film, ``In the Company of Men,'' in competition; Treu was at Sundance simply as an observer.

Treu recalls LaBute's nervousness over the reception of ``In the Company ...'' After sitting through the film, he knew where LaBute's anxiousness came from.

``(The movie) made me squirm, and from what I've read, that was one of his goals,'' says Treu, whose films - like the recently released ``Little Secrets'' - are geared more toward family audiences. ``I would definitely say that Neil did not fit the typical BYU mold. I probably did a little more, which, depending on your point of view, may be to my discredit.''

Unquestionably, ``In the Company of Men'' was a squirmer. A fiercely ironic and majorly cruel tale about a couple of junior executives who get back at the female sex via a sick practical joke on a hearing-impaired employee, ``In the Company of Men'' outraged critics and audiences alike.

It also drew comparisons to the works of David Mamet and won LaBute the Filmmakers Trophy at Sundance.

LaBute's next feature, the equally sour bed-hopping relationship drama ``Your Friends and Neighbors,'' was even harsher. And lest you think LaBute goes soft in his other mediums, a look at plays ``The Shape of Things'' and ``Bash: Latterday Plays'' - which played the Canon Theatre in 1999 - will disabuse you of that notion in a nanosecond. Murder, gay bashing, psychological punishment anybody? ``If people really feel put off, I say, 'Hey, sorry,' '' says LaBute. ``But I'd really rather shock somebody or move somebody or whatever it is than have them feel nothing at all. I don't think it's such a bad thing to feel a little sense of being provoked.''

So what's a squirm master like LaBute doing behind the camera of the period literary romance ``Possession''? Defying expectations, of course.

``People are skittish of making an openly unabashedly romantic movie - or even going to them,'' says LaBute. ``People in this kind of postmodern ironic age - and I'm a flag waver for that age - always try to come at it like, 'Oh this is some kind of romantic comedy or mystery.' At its heart, ('Possession') is just two love stories. Going into it, I said, 'I'm not going to try to make this any darker or hipper than it already is. I want to tell that story.''

Fans of the A.S. Byatt novel on which ``Possession'' is based are, no doubt, breathing sighs of relief ... even as they scratch their heads that someone like LaBute would come to this project - or vice versa.

In ``Possession,'' a pair of present-day literary scholars (played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart) come across evidence that Randolph Ash (Jeremy Northam), the morally steady poet laureate to Queen Victoria, may have had a secret affair with Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle). The action bounces between the two stories with the present-day couple fighting their own attraction as they track the mystery.

This may seem a far cry from the territory of ``In the Company of Men'' or even LaBute's 2000 film, ``Nurse Betty,'' but LaBute maintains it's not such a stretch. An interesting story is an interesting story, he says, whether it's a period bodice ripper or a dark comedy about a delusional housewife and the love-struck hit man on her trail.

``A lot of my writing for film and the theater focuses on the relationships between people,'' says LaBute, whose next film is an adaptation of his four-character play, ``The Shape of Things.'' ``And while I hadn't done a period piece of any particular scope, there are people who can help you realize those elements. Getting the right emotional resonance is a different thing.

``That's what I sold myself on, and that's what the studio invested in.''

Even as his films have grown in scope, budget and size, LaBute has tried to keep things familiar. ``Possession'' co-producer Stephen Pevner has produced all of LaBute's movies and several of his plays. Director of photography Jean Yves Escoffier worked on ``Nurse Betty.''

Eckhart, like Treu a BYU classmate, is the closest thing to a LaBute constant. The actor has appeared in all of LaBute's films and is mulling an offer to act opposite Sigourney Weaver in LaBute's upcoming play, ``The Mercy Seat.''

``Possession'' has Eckhart in full leading-man mode as an ambitious but romantically cautious Roland Michell, who matches wits and romantic repartee with Paltrow's icy Maud Bailey.

Roland, who is British in the Byatt's novel, becomes an American in the film, the adaptation's most significant change. Bringing Eckhart aboard was something of a battle, but one that LaBute was prepared to wage.

``He was interested in playing the part, but he couldn't be called a romantic lead at that point,'' LaBute said of Eckhart, who is probably best-known for his work as Julia Roberts' biker boyfriend in ``Erin Brockovich.'' ``With Gwyneth on board, all the green lights started going off, and we were able to cast him, and we could find the chemistry between them.''

For his part, Eckhart says he doesn't take his relationship with LaBute for granted. ``I still have to fight to be in these movies,'' he says. ``It's not always an easy sell to get me in as these movies get bigger.''

Eckhart recalls meeting and acting with LaBute in a small drama scene study class at BYU. As LaBute started pursuing a writing track - developing ``In the Company of Men'' in a play-writing class - Eckhart became the beneficiary of several meaty LaBute-penned roles.

And yes, even during his school days, LaBute wasn't churning out work that people would label mainstream or conventional.

``We just would do very sparse, minimalistic theater that kind of horrified the audiences,'' says Eckhart. ``People would say, 'Oh man, this is like an exhalation of horror.' But these are great parts. I don't know any actor friends who would have turned down 'In the Company of Men.' Well, on moral grounds maybe.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) POSSESSED BY THE STORY

NEIL LABUTE lets go of his darker impulses to direct the romance `Possession' but retains leading man AARON ECKHART

(2) Actor Jeremy Northam, left, and Neil LaBute on the set of ``Possession,'' a film with romantic themes not present in the director's previous work.

(3) Aaron Eckhart