Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 114
Fresh: 85 | Rotten: 29
An intelligent, adult, and provocative Philip Roth adaptation that features classy performances, Elegy is never quite the sum of its parts.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 7
An intelligent, adult, and provocative Philip Roth adaptation that features classy performances, Elegy is never quite the sum of its parts.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
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Adapted from author Philip Roth's novel The Dying Animal, director Isabel Coixet's elegant tale of obsession explores the relationship between a highly respected professor (Ben Kingsley) and an impossibly gorgeous grad student (Penélope Cruz). As their relationship deepens, the professor finds his ego challenged by the girl's enchanting beauty. Dennis Hopper and Patricia Clarkson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Feb 10, 2008 Wide
Mar 17, 2009
$3.5M
MGM
All Critics (118) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (30) | DVD (2)
With his fierce, impeccable craft Kingsley shows us around David's tortured, preening, desperate psyche.
Sparse, low-budget drama, helmed by Spaniard Isabel Coixet, intelligently translates Roth's meditation on lust and mortality without soft-pedaling its narrator's brutally honest, unabashedly sexist views.
Penelope Cruz is outstanding in an otherwise lame male fantasy.
Elegy is a rare treat: a serious film that, thanks to Kingsley and the rest, doesn't seem to take itself too seriously.
A remarkable example of the actor at his best -- conveying wounded hurt or burning hunger with a glance.
Elegy gives Ben Kingsley one of the best roles of his career.
A proven favorite, the Horny Old Devil Professor - Ben Kingsley in Isabel Coixet's intelligent but weepy drama.
Your final affection for this literary treat of sorts is how well you accept the finale, which is touching, and intellectually potent, yet possibly one depressant too many.
There are moments when the story sags, as it postures and revels in its own eloquence, but with strong performances and a moving final act, this is still a fine, thought-provoking film.
No se ubica entre lo mejor de la directora Isabel Coixet, pero es de todos modos una interesante y sensible reflexión sobre la soledad, el amor, el sexo y la madurez. Gran trabajo de Ben Kingsley.
A film which stays and stays.
An intelligent tale of aging, beauty, love and loss.
Coixet has blunted the impact of the novel's ending just as she has softened Roth's misanthropic depiction of Kepesh and, as a result, she's taken flak for being over-polite. I didn't care.
Ben Kingsley is extraordinary, but Penelope Cruz is just astounding as Consuela. It is really a beautiful film.
Beauty, obsession and longing are the central themes of this hypnotic but ultimately flawed drama in which Ben Kingsley's ageing college professor falls in lust with Penelope Cruz' stunning and vulnerable student.
A carefully observed, well acted autumnal character study that plays nicely on the small screen, in a dimly lit den, with a nice glass of wine.
Penelope's gullible college coed swoons when the lecherous lecturer played by Ben Kingsley confesses that he's fallen in love with her breasts. You've come a long way backwards, baby. Penelope Cruz Boob Fetish Blues.
Penelope's gullible college coed swoons when the lecherous lecturer played by Ben Kingsley confesses that he's fallen in love with her breasts. You've come a long way backwards, baby. Penelope Cruz Boob Fetish Blues.
runs out of ideas, and efforts to jog the proceedings can't get it back on track
I liked it despite it's relatively low rating. It portrays the raw and sharp edges of lust and love. Kingsley is charming and Penelope is as beautiful as ever!
November 16, 2010Super Reviewer
I had initially rated Elegy much higher than this, but have changed that now with the review. I watched the film a couple weeks ago - and enjoyed it - but the thing is that absolutely nothing stuck around; there is absolutely nothing particularly remarkable about the film. Penelope Cruz is charming, feisty, and
October 23, 2010
Super Reviewer
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