Elegy

R

Released Aug 8, 2008

1 hr. 51 min.

Drama

Romance

List

75%

122 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), a renowned professor, has no interest in monogamy. Instead, he prefers to dabble in lustful flings with women. When he meets Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), a student in her 20s, he is intensely attracted to her. Though his trusted friend George (Dennis Hopper) warns him not to become overly attached to the much younger Consuela, David begins to feel that his relationship with the student may become serious. However, his personal reservations may doom the affair.

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Critics Consensus

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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Audience Member

Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz David is a teacher who used to be married back in the 1960s But he's only ever bounced from woman to woman never staying in a long term relationship Then he meets Consuela, one of his students beautiful beyond measure Inexplicably he starts a bond with her he couldn't fathom so it possible he might fall in love Yet he has to think about the pros and cons; is there a future or is she too young for him? Consuela has to remind him of the things she wants to do to move forward not just him, she wants to know who she is for him Old age sneaks up on you, how can a man not grow up?, is it possible to find anyone without sex?, there's a difference between growing up and growing old The movie is brutally honest about the subject matter, explicit with its dialogue, and has terrific performances Yet it's too long and Cruz disappears after the first half which is very bizarre It's a very quiet somber viewing yet Kingsley and Cruz are sympathetic enough

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ben Kingsley plays a well respected professor who begins a relationship with a younger woman played by the alluring Penelope Cruz and suddenly feels very jealous and possessive of his newfound love. Really well acted film with a fantastic cast which also features Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper. Very well told story.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Wonderfully self-aware film that know what it is and overachieves in each of its aspects; wonderful casting

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Such an eloquent and sensitive film about the relationship between older men and younger women. This film gives so much space to character development. Every time you think thhe screenplay is becoming predictable it gives you more. Ben Kingsley offers an amazing performance. Cruz and Hooper are fantastic. If your heart is open prepare to have it cut.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

vander a

Sometimes it's just hard to see how a movie with so much otherwise excellent talent, that has been showcased numerous instances in other movies, can be so bad in this movie, which forces you to believe you can only attribute it to a bad director. One sticks with watching this movie because you keep expecting it to get better. Don't do it, because it doesn't.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

i think this movie offers an honest and touching view of love by an old cynic, without losing romanticism. I didn't understand a choice made by the main character, but maybe this is how it was originally written.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

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Isabel Coixet

Director

Penélope Cruz

Consuela Castilo

Ben Kingsley

David Kepesh

Dennis Hopper

George O'Hearn

Peter Sarsgaard

Kenneth Kepesh

Patricia Clarkson

Carolyn

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

The stillness of the performances combined with Coixet's direction, which takes it time, and that bloody piano tinkling and tinkling away make it all rather heavy going; makes you feel as if you've just swum uphill through treacle.

Aug 23, 2018

Full Review

Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

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.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 10, 2009

Full Review

Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

With his fierce, impeccable craft Kingsley shows us around David's tortured, preening, desperate psyche.

Nov 10, 2008

Full Review

Bárbara Escamilla

Cinemanía (Spain)

A sincere and careful but unexpectedly subdued film. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/5

Nov 6, 2020

Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

Smart and devastatingly sad, Elegy is at heart a film about the many damned-to-fail ways we try to protect ourselves from the inevitable certainty of death.

Jan 27, 2020

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

A finely crafted, intelligently written work, featuring some exceptional performances by Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 7, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), a renowned professor, has no interest in monogamy. Instead, he prefers to dabble in lustful flings with women. When he meets Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), a student in her 20s, he is intensely attracted to her. Though his trusted friend George (Dennis Hopper) warns him not to become overly attached to the much younger Consuela, David begins to feel that his relationship with the student may become serious. However, his personal reservations may doom the affair.

Director: Isabel Coixet
Executive Producer: Richard S. Wright, Eric Reid, Terry A. McKay, Judd Malkin
Screenwriter: Nicholas Meyer
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co: Lakeshore Entertainment
Rating: R (Nudity|Language|Sexuality)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 8, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.6M

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