Console best movie i've ever seen.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

magnuslhad An aging lothario professor seduces recently-graduated students one by one. However, he is undone my a mature Cuban-American student, whose beauty, sensuality and love expose his vulnerability. There is much to admire here, notably the performances by the two leads. Kingsley plays the academic as stiff and contained, a perfect interpretation of a man fighting to maintain control of his emotions, and losing badly. Cruz is magnetic, bringing depth and nuance to a role that could have been exploitative. Unfortunately, other elements of the process are not up to par. The framing and composition are flat and unremarkable. Dialogue is often stilted, as if translated directly from another language. The father-son relationship seems false from the get-go, and lacks coherence in the way it evolves. Having a character declare in the final third that they have a life-threatening disease is shoddy and amateurish writing. This is a plausible portrayal of male mid-life crisis, and more noteworthy, female devotion and love. Given a better supporting context, this film could have been so much more.

Matt Kracht The plot: A celebrated professor falls in love with a student 30 years younger than him.I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch this movie, even though it's got a great cast. I've never been drawn to Philip Roth, though I can't say that I dislike his writing, because I've never read any of his books. The subject matter and themes don't really excite me. So, with some degree of skepticism and pessimism, I saw down to watch Elegy.Much like the protagonist, this movie is exploitative, with pretensions toward High Art. Elegy is a story about Love, Lust, the Human Condition, Aging, and other melodramatic concepts with capital letters. Middle-aged men are likely to find it insightful, real, and powerful. Others may see it as nothing more than a fantasy for old men. There are elements of truth to both interpretations. I lean more toward the latter, but it was still a well-made movie, with quite a few good actors.I can't say that I'm any more likely to read Philip Roth's books, but I can now say that I understand the draw that some people feel toward his themes. I have a certain degree of tolerance for melodrama and pretentious writing (being a fan of some Gothic Romanticism), but my own tastes tend to veer more toward postmodernism and pulp (with Stephen King being a prominent guilty pleasure). Neurotic, insecure, old men jealously obsessing over young women doesn't really appeal to me on an artistic level, though I suppose this is probably as good a story can be told about such an idea.

Lawson Lawson Life with crossroads happen. Every person has a crossroad to define the next segment of our lives, either the road not taken or the risk of judgment makes cowards of us all. Wisdom comes from truthfully looking back at those choices and helping the next generation. Kingsley's character has the choice comes at the invitation to a party. Whether it is nobler to join our friends in the decision to join their choices or hide away and hope the fix happens without them.If you can imagine the noblest among us having difficulty dealing with these decisions, you can imagine us mere mortals frozen by the same choice. The answer is to know the difference between the week and the weekend, the importance of the work of our life and the course of our lives. To bear the brunt of the slings and arrows of our heart or jump into a life not known we all know. To enjoy the pursuit of happiness for whatever short time we have or to chicken out in the comfortable world we have created. Choose the bold, is the lesson this movie teaches me. Aim for the top even if you are just a teacher on TV. It's Penelope Cruz for crying out loud and every minute it lasts has a chance to be the best life can bring. Their are so many parties we have decided to skip even though we know afterwards, when the pain in our chest subsides, we will be stronger for the decision, no matter the foolishness it may present.

secondtake Elegy (2008)I happened to have read the novel that led to this movie, by Philip Roth, who I had always admired, at least in theory (not all his works are equal, for sure). But I was really repulsed the single minded old man lust of the original story. And I was equally unconvinced that a young (and necessarily beautiful) woman would need and be satisfied by that lust to some kind of simplistic narcissistic degree. It's rare I hate a novel that might at least be well written, and I found myself hating the movie for the same reasons. So to temper things, I'll say that both Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz are superb in their roles. Kingsley as the lonely professor hitting on a young and vulnerable college student is subtle and convincing. And Cruz as that returning (slightly older) student in her odd obsession with this man, and then with a personal tragedy that falls on her, and between them.But that might be the extent of my entry here. There are issues here that are interesting, the first being a relationship built on physical love (and appreciation, in some non-aesthetic sense but relating strictly to beauty) from the man, and on a more cultural appreciation and almost adoration on her part (he shows her high culture). And those are elements in many relationships. But what about the rest of their lives, the psyches? Is this just a fulfilling of two defined needs, one to the other in vary different but compensating ways?Maybe. But then the movie doesn't make enough of it. Oh, sure, we get Kingsley's worldly confidence and education, and we get an eyeful of Cruz's physical beauty, all of it, and so in literal terms the movie goes where the book does. But it is told with linear simplicity. Interspersed are some really painful old man "guy talk" sections, at regular intervals, and the other guy, improbably played by Dennis Hopper, is really just a kind of non-comic relief from the other simple story.There is true tragedy by the end, and if you know anyone who has had breast cancer, or had to deal with disfigurement, there might be a small sense of recognition, that very palpable feeling that appearances matter. But a more likely feeling will be one of poison and cheapness, that the movie (and Roth) exploit a deeply disturbing psychological and almost spiritual issue, about identity and wholeness, and about survival, with enormous insensitivity and superficial ignorance. I know there will be those who understand the movie's point of view, but I think there are more who will not.Oddly enough, the director is a woman (though Roth, of course, is not, and he wrote his book as an older man after years of teaching literature at a college, and the screenwriter is also a man). A puzzling and unrewarding movie.