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4 stars****

It’s a thinker’s film. Screenplay writer Nicholas Meyer has moved the Philip Roth complex novel, The Dying Animal, to a much simpler screen version, while retaining sufficient thought to make this movie compelling, fascinating and a long way from the current Hollywood trend for bang, crash, wallop action movies.

Philip Roth is a very popular novalist, but I’ve always found his work hard going. I can put down his books after a few chapters and come back to them months later, or not at all.

It has the feel of a French Noir film. If that was the target, it achieved it with flying colours.

Director Isabel Coixet has to be congratulated for her direction of the cast. We all know Ben Kingsley is up there with the best in the peak impact acting group with Michael Caine and Jodie Foster. They take over their roles.

The main surprise is the quality of Penélope Cruz. I have obviously under estimated her quality previously. I did enjoy her Spanish movie, Open Your Eyes (better than her second version; Vanilla Sky) and she worked well in Gothika with Halle Berry, but Elegy has to be her academy moment. She simply brought so much life to the screen you felt you were in the room with her. To mix that with Ben Kingsley on top form was excellent. The two of them worked so well together you’ll forget they had a crew watching over them, they were so intimate in their approach with each other.

It was good to see Deborah Harry back in an acting role, which she also mastered. It’s been a long time since she burst on the scene with all those stomping Blondie hits. She’s managed to keep her acting work growing is stature through the years.

The story is about a guy, Ben Kingsley, who falls for a beautiful student, Ms Cruz, who is thirty years younger. He can’t form long term attachments and ends up losing her for almost no reason until a twist brings him to his full character change arc; he now wants commitment.

Both ‘B’ stories fit well in the flow. Ben can’t find a relationship with his son, (and his mother, it has to be said) but he finds a great friendship with Dennis Hopper and a regular lover in Patricia Clarkson.

It’s good to be able to leave a cinema with something other than the action scenes to discuss. Even the ending doesn’t meet Hollywood standards; it’s not at all pleasant and doesn’t tie up all the loose ends. If you wanted a franchise this would be where it continues, but that almost certainly won’t happen here, because you get to talk about the possible next stages of these character’s lives and you decide their next moves.

Most enjoyable and good to have to think for a change. Isn’t this what film making is all about?

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