Elegy

Character-driven, grown-up and slow-burning are perhaps not the most inspirational adjectives to open a review of a film you've just seen and loved but they do have one thing in common. Hyphens? No, I'm talking about the fact that they tend to be appropriate descriptors of films that is usually right up my street. If done badly these movies are often as dull as the adjectives that describe them, but in the right hands they can be every bit as gripping as a break-neck action film or unpredictable thriller. The thing about character-driven movies is that there's a greater focus on the inhabitants of the film, and by necesseity the quality of acting in such pictures is usually first rate. Indeed the quality of acting can rarely be better than it is here with a brilliant cast excelling as individuals and as an ensemble. Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper are all outstanding in supporting turns, but the film belongs to Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, both of whome make a lasting impression as a couple who fall in love despite their 30 year age gap.

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