Elegy
User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 53
  3. Negative: 5 out of 53

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  1. LimaV.
    Sep 9, 2008
    1
    One of the most gimmicky movies I have ever seen; a stroke, breast cancer, AND a son who hates his father. Love, marriage, sex: all themes explored like they have been for the past four decades in a way that reeked mold and lacked anything truly alive. Besides, the constant piano music weeping in the background was quite irritating.
  2. DFields
    Nov 9, 2009
    4
    For me, Ben Kingsley was not the best choice for this romantic lead. He seemed awkward, unsure of himself and even childish and immature at inappropriate times. Cruz was impressive, as was Clarkston, but I literally cringed at the love scenes. Furthermore, the catalyst scene where David no-shows to Consuela's event did not ring true and did not seem authentic to me. I never felt that he truly loved her, but rather was obsessed with the idea of her. Having her die at the end was heavy-handed and contrived.… Expand
  3. MikeH
    Sep 14, 2009
    0
    Boring waste of time. Overrated.
  4. CharlesS.
    Mar 25, 2009
    2
    Turned it off. Pretentious.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Bennett
    50
    Cruz's performance deserves to be seen widely, and it should place her again in line for prizes, but the story's pretensions and downbeat mood will not endear the film to audiences.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    70
    Sparse, low-budget drama, helmed by Spaniard Isabel Coixet, intelligently translates Roth's meditation on lust and mortality without soft-pedaling its narrator's brutally honest, unabashedly sexist views.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    50
    A spare, melancholy film that is so far in spirit from its source, Philip Roth's "The Dying Animal."
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