66
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThis is an offering for mature viewers thrown out amidst a sea of summer flotsam. The title, Elegy, is perfect for the material. There is much tragedy and truth in what the makers of this movie have brought to the screen.
- 80The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyThe Spanish director Isabel Coixet works with candor, directness, and simplicity. She isn't afraid of lengthy scenes of the two actors just talking to each other, mixed with lavish but respectful attention to Cruz's body, especially her bare chest, which is treated as one of the wonders of all creation.
- 75The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsAs an acting showcase that builds to some unexpectedly moving moments, Elegy has much to recommend it. Had Coixet found better ways to connect those moments, she might have REALLY had something to rival what Roth does on the page.
- 75Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldAn absorbing but somber drama.
- 70VarietyVarietySparse, 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.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterRay BennettThe Hollywood ReporterRay BennettCruz'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.
- 50New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinA spare, melancholy film that is so far in spirit from its source, Philip Roth's "The Dying Animal."
- 50The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThe problem with Elegy has nothing to do with faithfulness and everything to do with interpretation. The film is an overly polite take on a spiky, claustrophobic, insistently impolite novel.
- 40EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoWhile the supporting actors are engaging, the turgid screenplay lets the whole thing down.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceSpanish director Isabel Coixet's hushed and understated Elegy is a flat, joyless affair.