Elegy (2008) September 18, 2008

Director Isabel Coixet's assured and beautifully observed film, based on Philip Roth's short novel 'The Dying Animal,' charts the passionate relationship between a celebrated college professor and a young woman whose beauty both ravishes and destabilizes him. David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) glories in the pursuit of adventurous female students but never lets any woman get too close. When gorgeous Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz) enters his classroom, however, his protective veneer dissolves. Soon Kepesh's need for Consuela becomes an obsession, and ultimately his jealous fantasies of betrayal drive her away. Shattered, Kepesh immerses himself in work until, two years later, Consuela comes back into his life - with an urgent, desperate request that will change everything.