| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
A- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
|
|
Reviewed: Elegy
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
May 10, 2009
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
Original review here from ****.com
Character-fueled without skimping on story, Coixet and Meyer make it easy for us to understand the perspectives and motives of each lead without asking the viewer to like or sympathize with them. Interactions are believable within context, and dialogue is natural and interesting. Although the film is about a refined cultural critic, it never itself feels pretentious (Ben Kingsley’s appropriately upturned nose notwithstanding).
Nor is the film judgmental. Once gravity is lent to what might seem a minor life crisis, the masterful pacing leaves little room to consider the defensibility of the choices made before us. Short scenes are interspersed with longer bits of dialogue, the end result being a well-proportioned mix that is constantly fluid. The shot selection keeps the film visually interesting, even in the more cerebral scenes of extended dialogue. Every once in a while, a visual metaphor seems unnecessary and contrived—as in when wilted leaves fall from a potted plant—but such annoyances are few and far between.
Kingsley is certainly in his element here, and his classical training enables him to indulge his inner British snob without guilt. His transformation from accomplished, confident sophisticate to love-struck, helpless old man is nuanced and captivating.
Not just anyone can reduce a man like that to helplessness; this feat is performed by Penelope Cruz (who else?). It’s fair to say that Cruz is often typecast as the Latin seductress, but it is a role she has perfected—even elevated—in films like Todo Sobre Mi Madre. This is her at her most sympathetic, and she manages to bring something new to a role that could have easily been phoned in.
Dennis Hopper’s performance is similarly familiar as a renowned American poet with 60’s-era ethical permissiveness and a taste for striking women far younger than he. Like Cruz, he avoids switching on the autopilot, and eschews familiarity for freshness.
Elegy is perfectly cast, beautifully shot, and refreshingly accessible for a film of its caliber. |
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