Two things immediately hit you after watching “Elegy,” probably the best adaptation of a Philip Roth novel ever committed to screen.
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One: Stars Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz have done their part here to make the summer movie season a little more palatable for those who prefer their explosions to come from emotions and not pyrotechnics.
And two: There is no big- screen profession more saddled with unhappiness these days than the ranks of college professors.
Kingley’s David Kepesh teaches literature at Columbia, has a regular gig on NPR and frequently livens up the “Charlie Rose” television show with his candid and enthusiastic endorsements of unbridled carnality. David practices what he preaches, regularly sleeping with his students without apology.
David uses sex to stave off the passage of time, though, at his age, he has an acute awareness of the ticking clock. When he meets the Cuban-born Consuela (Cruz), an elegant, self-possessed graduate student, he ardently pursues her.
David becomes obsessed with Consuela. And even after he wins her, even after they develop what could be considered a loving relationship, he can’t stop thinking of the day when she’ll leave him for a younger man.
“Elegy” is taken from Roth’s 2001 novella “The Dying Animal.” The title change speaks to the differences between the book and this adaptation, written by Nicholas Meyer and directed by Isabel Coixet.
The movie has a meditative quality, made doubly potent by the raging despair Kingsley brings to his role. Cruz matches him in her best English-language performance.
