“Elegy” a Serious Sex Movie
August 22nd, 2008
by Skip Sheffield
Movies usually treat the subject of sex lightly, casually- no big deal.
For most mortals, sex is a very big deal.
“Elegy” is a movie about sex and attraction, love and desire, jealousy and regret. The script is based on a short story, “The Dying Animal,” by Philip Roth.
I did not read the original, but I have read the movie is greatly toned down in anger and pessimism. That’s a good thing, because “Elegy” is still angry, but more a mournful elegy on the inevitable fading of youth and beauty.
Sir Ben Kingsley stars as David Kepesh, a writer and professor of practical criticism at Columbia University.
Kepesh has developed a fan base thanks to his regular appearances on Public Television, and he uses the fame to best advantage seducing attractive coeds.
Kepesh doesn’t have to seduce Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz), a beautiful Cuban graduate student. She practically falls into his arms.
Despite his many conquests, the divorced professor can hardly believe his good luck, but at the same time he is insecure because of a 30-year-plus age difference.
David’s best and only friend, poet George O’Hearn (Dennis Hopper), is convinced Consuela will ditch David for the first hot young guy who comes around.
“You are blinded by her beauty,” George insists. “You can’t see the real person.”
David Kepesh is in my humble opinion, Ben Kingsley’s finest performance since “Gandhi.” As unsympathetic as the character is, we feel David’s pain, rage, and ultimate sorrow.
Equally amazing is Dennis Hopper’s performance as caustic, misogynist George, a character we finally pity.
Penelope Cruz is asked no more than to be beautiful and unclothed much of the time. At this she succeeds.
I’m guessing that “Elegy’ has benefited by having a woman, Isabel Coixet, as director. She seems to have a rare understanding of the fragile male ego.
Three and a half stars
“Elsa and Fred” is as sunny and optimistic as “Elegy” is sad and gloomy.
If you believe it is never too late for love, you will love this Spanish movie and its elderly lovers Elsa (China Zorilla) and Alfredo (Manuel Alexandre).
Alfredo, 78, is recently widowed and moved into a Madrid apartment by his bossy daughter Cuca (Blanca Portillo).
Elsa is an Argentine neighbor who says she is 77 (she is really 82) but is a teenager at heart. Elsa dreams she is Anita Ekberg in “La Dolce Vita.” With Alfredo’s help, her dream can come true.
Three stars
“Frozen River” is a compelling, suspenseful feminist fable of maternal love, bravery, and survival, by writer-director Courtney Hunt.
Hunt worked for ten years researching, writing and developing her feature film debut and her devotion shows in inspired performances by Melissa Leo as a struggling mother of two boys in Upstate New York and Misty Upham as a young Mohawk woman she befriends.
Ray (Leo) and Lila (Upham) become unlikely partners in the risky business of smuggling aliens across the frozen St. Lawrence River from Canada to Mohawk Territory in the USA.
“Frozen River” is gripping and unsentimental in its depiction of women coping with overwhelming problems. Guys can relate too.
Three and a half stars
“The Rocker” is a sort of one-off “School of Rock” comedy starring Rainn Wilson as an over-the-hill 1980s rocker who gets a second chance in his teenaged nephew’s band.
Wilson does his best Jack Black over-the-top performance, but he is better suited to comedy of the subtler sort.
Two and a half stars
“Hamlet 2” is an undercooked comedy starring British comedian Steve Coogan as a hapless New Mexico drama teacher who stages the play of the title in a desperate attempt to save his high school’s drama department. There are some inside laughs for theater types, but the movie is a bit of a yawn for civilians.
Two stars
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