We’ve been great fans of Krishna Bhanji a.k.a. Ben Kingsley since we watched Gandhi at a drive-in theater many summers ago in the company of an army of mosquitoes (the movie went on to win eight Oscars).

So, it was with no hesitation that we picked up the Elegy DVD at RedBox a short while ago (all ye cheapo desis, since it’s Monday the rental is free with the code).

Directed by Isabel Coixet, Elegy features Kingsley, Penélope Cruz, Dennis Hopper, Peter Sarsgaard and Patricia Clarkson.

The movie opened to mostly positive reviews but wasn’t a big draw at the box office.

Elegy pulled in a mere $13.19 million worldwide, according to boxofficemojo.

Kingsley plays a professor in a relationship with one (or more?) of his students.

We’ll update this post later today after we finish watching the film.

Update:
With stalwarts like Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz playing key roles, can Elegy be anything but a nice movie. No, sir. It can’t.

Elegy is the story of an old man’s love for one of his young students.

An old man’s lust.

An old man’s fears.

An old man’s jealousies.

An old man’s fear of commitment.

Ben Kingsley’s character Professor David Kepesh says of his young love Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz):

On the nights she isn’t with me, I’m deformed thinking of where she might be

Even as David admits that a future with Consuela scares him, little does he realize that a future without her is even scarier.

Elegy is a piquant love story that found favor with us.

(Fans of Penelope Cruz’ finely sculpted body can see her as ‘God’ made her.)