Elegy

Elegy
Director: Isabel Coixet
Starring: Penélope Cruz & Ben Kingsley
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
Tag line: Love has no boundaries.
Amazon rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
My rating: 5 stars

Plot: Professor David Kepesh, lecturer and culture critic, finds that his life for bachelorhood (just sex) has been thrown in disarray when he falls in love for his student, Consuela Castillo.

Review: I read The Dying Animal by Philip Roth, which this movie is based on, a few years ago. Roth is an excellent writer, one of the best and one of my favorites. He is relentless, doesn't apologize for getting the truth out. His words are poetry and vulgarity in one. When I learned it was being adapted into a screenplay, I had my doubts. While I love Roth's work, I feared that something wold be lost in the process. Like all books that are adapted, Roth gives you insight into the mind of his characters - you understand them, whether you choose to love them or not. He isn't asking you to forgive them for the trespasses, he's just letting you know. And the David Kepesh stories were the first ones I've encountered - The Breast, a Kafkaesque novel where our "hero" transforms into a giant breast; The Dying Animal, where Kepesh is faced with the dilemma of actual affection for another person, rather than just wanting her around for the sex; and The Professor of Desire, which ventures into his life's journey, from the start.

But Elegy is one of those films that take your breath away. Ben Kingsley, a brilliant actor, one I've never imagined to take the role of Kepesh, but nonetheless, does an excellent job performing, takes the lead. He is the most convincing man for the part. Not because he looks like a tom cat, but because he can get into the emotions of a man stricken by Cupid's arrow. Teamed up with the ever enchanting Penélope Cruz, and you see nothing but chemistry on screen.

Dennis Hopper, who plays poet George O'Hearn, Kepesh's married tom cat friend, delivers an extraordinary performance - as if anything less is expected from such a great actor. Also convincingly is Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Kenny Kepesh - the grudge-holding son of our main character who too finds himself in the lap of adultery even though he'd held that against his father.

With such a wonderful cast of actors placed up in front of us and excellent writing and directing, it's not wonder that Elegy is one of the few films that can stand alone - no need for comparison - to their novel originals. It's a love story, it's a story of lust. It's erotic and charming, sensual and caring. It's a movie you will not regret watching.

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams & Michael Peña
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rated: R

Tag line: Three strangers with nothing to lose. And everything to find. & Sometimes losing your way home means finding yourself.

Amazon rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
My rating: 5 stars

Plot: After returning to the country to see all their flights have been canceled, three US soldiers journey on a cross country road trip where they not see the country they're fighting for, but also finding themselves.

Review: Being stranded is the metaphor. It means we are stuck in our situations, with no way out. It means that we are lost in this world, watching the daily grind pass us by without any real hope that we will one day belong again. It's very much what many of our service men and women face the moment their tour is over, or when on leave. It's the question of what now. It's the honest to god fear that we do not know which move to make next, or what we can do with our lives. I can only imagine it is much worse for those who have been gone for months only to be in a country that does not want them, and will do anything to remove them from their midst. So what happens after the war? What happens when they come home? What happens when these brave men and women find themselves in a strange land they once called home?

Finding himself with a Jacob Barnes wound, T.K. Poole (Michael Peña) lies in a hospital room in Germany wondering what next. His tour - his third tour - is far from over and being sent home is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he'll have time off from the havoc that has become the Iraqi war, but a curse because he finds himself less of a man. Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams), shot in the leg, has experienced a near death experience during the war which cost the life of her friend, whose guitar she totes around. Having had a falling out with her own family, Colee hopes that the guitar she now possesses will somehow connect her with them. Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins) is a through with his tour, heading home for good. Suffering with a back injury by a fluke accident that saved his life, his only wish is to see his family again, be in the arms of his loving wife. The three believe to only have one thing in common, survival of a war that is both loved and hated by the country they've vowed to protect.

But T.K.'s injury mentally cripples him. Rather than seeing his 30-day leave as something of a blessing that he can spend his off time with his girlfriend, he heads for Vegas in the hopes that the women who handle "special cases" such as his can revive his manhood, sealing the deal that he has with his non soul mate. Fred is stricken by the reality that nothing is as he left it. His wife wants a divorce; his son has a chance at Stanford, but cannot foot the rest of the bill, choosing instead of enlisting in the army. And Colee is constantly being reminded by her male compatriots that her illusion of a perfect reuniting with a family she's never met before is just a fabrication of a little girl's dream and a pathological liar's tall tales. So that scene in the airport, where they find themselves stranded in New York stands for more than just being stranded in an airport, obviously.

The only logical solution for their strandedness is to escape - to ride off into the night, heading for St. Louis where the slew of bad news beings. There is no hope in this story. There are no true happy endings. All we have is one misfortune after another, allowing for each of the three major characters of this heartfelt, American movie, to change - to see themselves for the first time, not as soldiers, not has husband, father, son, daughter, lover or any other social clique we are placed in, but as themselves.

The actors are realistic in the roles. Rachel McAdams delivers a lovable Colee Dunn; Michael Peña creates the mean-spirited, bitter, yet caring T.K. Poole; and Tim Robbins, the man who has the hardest part, in my opinion, brings the hopeful and heartbroken Fred Cheaver to life. It's a movie for anyone who has ever served, or has family serving to enjoy. And the rest of us to grow with.

Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith & Debra Winger
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
Tag line: N/A
Amazon's rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My rating: 4 stars

Plot: After spending 10 years in rehab, Kym returns home to see her sister's wedding.

Review: Just when we thought that every movie being released would be a remake or a typical Hollywood cliche, Rachel Getting Married reminds us just why we love movies.

While the plot seems a little too familiar, the characters - both the portrayal and their stories - are well rounded. Anne Hathaway's portrayal of ex-drug addict, Kym, strays away from the typical characters she is cast to play (just like she was in Havoc). And while I've never seen Rosemarie DeWitt's acting prior to this movie, her portrayal as responsible sister, Rachel, is beyond any stellar acting I've ever seen.

The story Jenny Lumet wrote is one that will last the test of time. I'm not sure it could have been delivered as well as it had with out the aid of director Jonathan Demme and the excellent cast they chose.

Caveat: While the movie is a must see, several people have complained that the story isn't that great. I disagree, of course, however there were times that the movie seemed to drag - such as the one where everyone is making toasts. The main reason the several nay-sayers - or at least what I believe - is because the story is too realistic for their liking.