Elegy R
Ben Kinsley plays a smug and reclusive professor who sleeps with women, including his students, but only after they've passed his class. He is estranged from his son and has a lover, but when a new hot student, played by Penelope Cruz, comes into his life, he is smitten and jealous of her and becomes obsessed, even though his close friend thinks it's silly of him, in a pretentious way. Adapted (poorly) from the Roth book, "The Dying Animal" and at times heavy on the trite dialogue, somewhere in there is a movie that isn't just saying it's brilliant, but is just a little amazing. A little. At times it seemed like Oscar was written all over this, at least for Kingsley, because it's slow to the point of being a cure for insomnia for 45 minutes into it. (Even the sex scenes are boring partly because it's Ben Kingsley on top of her and that just kills it. You just picture Gandhi writing around and it's like, eew...because he played Gandhi). Then slapped onto the last 30 minutes is a shocking series of classic drama events...oh no, the best friend is dying...oh no...the hot girl is dying...because that's what you do at the end of an Oscar movie. Actually this movie both forced an emotional response and also a bit of smug anger because it was like, half way through it's a different movie and it's trying to make you feel for this really shallow tomcat of a man and his totally messed up life. Like early on he deserves to be in his situation. To toss in the dying people left and right is like saying, of to heck with logic, we need some weepy drama at the end quick so this doesn't just come off as an old guy's sequel to 'Van Wilder'. Rather it comes off like a clone of any number of 'cancer dramas' from the last generation (none of which come to mind but one starred Michael J. Fox and some lady). Well it's half an old guy gets some Cruz flick and the other half a chick flick. Eh. acting is top notch but it's Kinsley who can play anything. He deserved the Oscar. It didn't get one though. Review by Adam Browne
Agreed, The idea was likely to appeal to the Oscar crowd by making a movie about a man who learns about real life after being shallow. Problem for the man is when he comes to grips with humanity it's too late. He is already a jerk, so there is nothing to change the viewer's mid of this, and when he finally feels sorry it's like, well are you only feeling that because she's going to be dead? If you read the book also, you'd get the idea he was still like that. The change of pace was Hollywood shlock.
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