Through the years, Philip Roth has won wide acclaim for his novels — but had a rockier time seeing his work adapted by Hollywood. But Roth, who died Tuesday at age 85, leaves a remarkable storytelling legacy.
“American Pastoral” (2016)
RottenTomatoes: 22 percent; IMDb: 6.1
Ewan McGregor directs and stars in this adaptation of the 1997 novel about a successful Jewish American businessman whose daughter becomes an anti-Vietnam revolutionary.
“The Human Stain” (2003)
RottenTomatoes: 42 percent; IMDb: 6.3
Anthony Hopkins plays a disgraced college dean with a secret past who romances a younger woman (Nicole Kidman) with her own mysterious history in an adaptation of Roth’s 2000 novel.
“Portnoy’s Complaint” (1972)
RottenTomatoes: NA; IMDb: 5.1
Richard Benjamin starred in a version of Roth’s 1969 novel about “a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor.”
“The Humbling” (2015)
RottenTomatoes: 50 percent; IMDb: 5.6
Al Pacino plays an addled actor who has an affair with a lesbian in a story based on Roth’s 2009 novel.
“Elegy” (2008)
RottenTomatoes: 75 percent; IMDb: 6.8
Based on the 2001 novella “The Dying Animal,” the film centers on a professor (Ben Kingsley) who embarks on a relationship with a much younger Cuban woman (Penélope Cruz).
“Indignation” (2016)
RottenTomatoes: 82 percent; IMDb: 6.8
Logan Lerman plays a principled young Jewish man from New Jersey who struggles with his principles at a small Ohio college in the 1950s. Based on a 2008 novel.
“Goodbye, Columbus” (1969)
RottenTomatoes: 100 percent; IMDb: 6.6
Roth’s breakout 1959 book was also the first to win favor in Hollywood, with Richard Benjamin and Ali McGraw playing a young couple in a doomed romance despite their shared Jewish upbringing. Arnold Schulman won an Oscar nomination for his adaptation.
