There’s much irony in the fact that it took a female director to finally successfully bring the sometimes misogynistic Philip Roth to the big screen. Based on a short story by the masterful writer called The Dying Animal, Isabel Coixet's Elegy is one of the more interesting dramas of the year, and it has not been easy to heap praise on previous Roth adaptations like The Human Stain or Portnoy's Complaint. With other modern masters of the written word like Ian McEwan (Atonement) and Cormac McCarthy (No Country For Old Men) finally getting cinematic treatments worthy of their source material, Roth could become the next go-to-guy for the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Elegy is not quite as good as the films that broke McEwan and McCarthy into the Oscars last year, but it is hopefully the beginning of a pattern for this excellent writer and one of the better dramas of a year that hasn't seen too many worth mentioning.

David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) is someone that could be called a possessive intellectual. We all know the type - the older man, usually a professor, who thinks he has every element of his life planned and perfected to the point that he almost effortlessly controls those around him. Kepesh is completely unafraid of bedding his younger students, doesn't really care that he doesn't get along with his son (Peter Sarsgaard), plays racquetball and drinks with his equally artsy buddy (Dennis Hopper), and has a girlfriend (Patricia Clarkson) whom he only sees on his own terms. Life is in an order of his own making and is not likely to change much before he passes off this mortal coil. He's a man who does what he wants when he wants and assumes that life is done throwing him curveballs. But, of course, Elegy is all about curveballs. They start when David meets Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz), an alluring and gorgeous student whom doesn’t just get into David’s bed, she gets under his skin, and it seems like no one has ever done that before. The two develop a May-December relationship that starts to break David's own rules. And then things get really complicated. Like a lot of Roth's work, Elegy is about the unpredictability of life smacking the face of a man who thinks he has everything under control.

Coixet holds the directorial reins of Elegy very confidently and has received just-praise for her work, but it has to be noted that getting actors as accomplished as Kingsley and Cruz in roles this rich was probably half the job. Kingsley proves, yet again, that when he gets a dense enough role, he's one of the best actors alive and Cruz simply rocks this part. She has a few scenes of intense physical and emotional honesty that rank with some of the most riveting scenes of the year. It’s a performance that can truly be called daring. Right now, she'd be a lock for a best actress nomination (and Kingsley for best actor). They're two of the best performances of the year and reason alone to see Elegy. The supporting cast, especially Hopper in a surprisingly heartfelt role that features his best work in years, are nearly equally worthy of acclaim.

A few of the twists and turns of Elegy feel a little forced, the kinds of "twists of fate" that an author can sell a lot more easily than a screenwriter. And Coixet makes the final act feel a little too somber. There are dark elements to Roth's plot, but Elegy borders on manipulative and melodramatic, two things that Roth never does in print. Elegy excels when it focuses solely on Kingsley and Cruz, two actors who inhabit these roles so completely that they're more interesting than the plot twists that surround them. Elegy may be an acting showcase more than a complete film, but, with that in mind, it's among the best of the year.

Rating: THREE BONES

  Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: August 22, 2008

Rating: R

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson, and Peter Sarsgaard

Director: Isabelle Coixet

Writer: Nicholas Meyer