Stretching over 100 humorless minutes of banal scenery and condescending monologue, Elegy pulls out all of the old clichés (cancer, aging, unrequited love) to pander for artistic prestige. The story, padded with unnecessary dialogue and redundant characters, barely concerns itself with the plight of an aging author-professor-important guy as he feels sorry for himself for entering a doomed relationship with a improbably younger woman set to overused Satie piano tunes.

Penélope Cruz is naked in the film, but that's the best thing I can say for it.

Starts off resembling a lifeless New Yorker story of a May/December romance, but progressively adds new dimensions & insights 2 become a subtle, thoughtful exploration of the struggle between lust/love & reason, &, more powerfully, the costs of the lives we don't choose. It's a clever sleight of hand as the always-stunning shots of Cruz initially seem 2 suggest Kingsley is mourning lost youth, but by the end the real grieving is over the life of relative "maturity" he's never had.

Excellent acting by Cruz and Kingsley make this May December romance believable

It is a pity that the director of this film seemed to grasp neither the characters of the novel, nor the milieu in which they dwelled, nor the intentions of the author. Almost every gesture of the performers, whether large or small, sounded a false note, and one utterly incongruent with Roth's fine book. The fault, however, does not lie with the actors, nor even with the script, but overwhelmingly with the director, who compounded error upon error. The result is both frustrating and tedious.

"The Spanish director gives an almost Wongian expression to the way people seduce one another." - Ed Gonzalez

A great book ruined by an awful movie. The ending at the beach must have made Philip Roth throw up

Cruz, Kingsley and Hopper deliver great performances to a good story. Although the pacing is a bit sluggish, Coixet's directing is more good than bad.

All of the actors do great job and the story is pretty interesting but unfortunately directing isn't at the same level.

Fascinating study of love, lust, aging and death - no really. Kingsley plays an initially unlikeably aloof poet professor whose brash exterior and ordered existence is disrupted by the beautiful young Cruz. This relationship forms the core of the film but an impressive supporting cast flesh out Kingsley's other relationships. A thought provoking moving script is the icing on the cake.

One of the main problems was trying to believe that a pretty young woman could be attracted to a wizened, leathery old troll with an ego to match his nose size. But even letting that go, the movie had a sluggish story and took some unexpected and unwarranted directions in the second half. Most of the time the atmosphere it created was just unpleasant, creepy and stifling. The characters were just too unsympathetic, all of them.

Okay Movie

Themes of May-December romance and death (meaning the end of life and the end of love) gets interwined in this little film directed by Isabel Coixet. It benefits from being based on the book by quite a few intersting dialogues. Directing could have been just a bit better, because there are some rough edges in pacing, and same could be said about Ben Kingsley's character, but in the end this film is a rewarding experience.

It only appeals to men over 60 with bad-ass goatees who have never really fallen in love. Bonus points for nude Cruz.

Didn't hold my attention, probably too far from my age group.

don't know why this film isn't getting more of a buzz

Excellent performances and some brilliant dialogue, occasional muddling of the themes and messages in the third act can be comfortably overlooked.

Mixed feelings while watching it: Ben Kingsley and Penélope Cruz were perfectly cast, both giving what may be one of their best performances to date. But the execution of some scenes could've been handled better, I think the film is too much in love with itself and it doesn't give you any time to breath or to think things through. Although a bit sad, and leaning more towards adults, it's definitely not a bad film, just flawed.

"Fans of long-winded life drama with aspirations to resonance: enjoy."