Elegy (2007) Movie Information:

Elegy (2007) Directed by: Isabel Coixet Elegy (2007) Written by: Nicholas Meyer Elegy (2007) Cast: Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Sarsgaard

Elegy (2007) U.S. Distributor: MGM Elegy (2007) U.K. Distributor: Not available at this time

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Elegy (2007) Synopsis:

Elegy (2007) Movie Review:

Based on a novella by Pulitzer Prize winning author Phillip Roth, Elegy is tremendously boring film that has manners and a fantastic cast.

The only other Phillip Roth film adaptation that comes to mind is Robert Benton’s The Human Stain, in which was not too good of a film either, but at least it had a pulse. On the other hand, Elegy is talkative, dreary, but also moves at a snails pace.

The film follows a cultural professor named David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), who a man in 60s that is also a critic and occasional one-night stand for Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson). David’s life is turned around when he falls for one of his bright students named Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz). David in fact becomes very possessive over his Consuela in a sexual and personal way, even though he does not want anyone to know of his feelings for her, including her family and friends. After missing a party of celebration with everyone that Consuela knows, the two begin to drift apart, and David turns to his only friend, George (Dennis Hopper), for advice on how to handle his current situation.

The character of David Kepesh is in fact a part of two Roth’s previous novels, besides Elegy, which is based on the novella The Dying Animal (2001). The two previous novels are 1972’s The Breast and 1977’s The Professor of Desire. The adaptation of the novella is stretched and bleaked by in its adaptation by Nicholas Meyer. The characters themselves show many emotions, but they still seem one-dimensional. The character of Kepesh and his son (Peter Sarsgaard) obviously have had something in the past that has torn them a part, but that aspect is never explore, but each of them admitting to having women and other women in their lives brings them together. The pace of the film is also so slow, that it is hard to stay awake. By the time that the third act’s surprise turn is unveiled, it feels a little too late to become a tearjerker.

The pacing can also be blamed on the bland direction by Isabel Coixet, who yearns to create a beautiful film of love and remorse, but comes up short. Most of the film is darkly light; to set the mood and mindset of David, but the darkness just makes the film more depressing in feel and effectiveness. Coixet gets solid work from the cast of the film, but as with all of the other aspects of Elegy, the direction is also dreary.

Much buzz has been made on the Internet about the nudity in the film involving Penelope Cruz. It is in fact has been rumored that leaked clips of the film involving Cruz’s nude scenes, is what got the film a distributor. Nudity or not, Cruz is strong in her performance as the student that falls for her teach Consuela. She struggled immensely once she came to Hollywood from Spain to make films, but over the past few years, she has gotten better and better. She also had a great partner to work with in the talent of Sir Ben Kingsley, who masters the role of David Kepesh. Kingsley in fact is the brightspot of this otherwise terrible film. There are also terrific supporting turns in the film by Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, and Dennis Hopper.

Elegy is a dull film that drags and drags. The final secret of the film feels forced, and the story would perhaps work better on the stage, or in a miniseries than in a full-length film.

Elegy opens on June 27th, 2008 in the United States; there is no release date yet for the United Kingdom.

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Elegy (2007) review written by: Bailey Henderson