WATER FOR ELEPHANTS – The Review

If you are looking for a great movie to go see on date night, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is your film!

Jacob (Robert Pattinson) had everything going for him, despite the Depression going on around him. He was about to graduate from a wonderful university with his degree in the veterinarian sciences, his parents already had an established veterinary business in town, and he had everything that he could have hoped for. That all came crashing down when his parents were suddenly killed in a car accident, and the bank took everything. With no home, no money, and one test short of his degree, Jacob walked the rails and hopped on a train in search of… anything. What Jacob didn’t know is that the train he hopped was for The Bellini Brothers Circus, and that there is an awful lot of sadness, hard-work, and, quite frankly, dark happenings going on when the big tops lights are off.

With no family to go home to, Jacob takes a job at the circus where he is quickly moving up the ladder, and making friends with August (Christoph Waltz), the ringmaster, owner, and tyrant of the circus and his wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), the star of the show. Jacob needs to watch himself though… because between Augusts irrational means to keep the circus afloat, and Jacob’s growing affections for Marlena, this friendship triangle is on the brink of disaster.

Let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way. I know that a lot of you are iffy on the fact that Robert Pattinson is in this film because of his role in the TWILIGHT saga. Well, you have nothing to fear because he is wonderful in his role of Jacob. There are no sparkly vampires here, but his performance still shines. I thought he really broke free from his vampire stereotype in REMEMBER ME, and I think that holds true in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. Reese Witherspoon does a fantastic job of showing the deeper sides to her character of Marlena. There is a despair, a feeling of being stuck and wanting to run away from her life… but at the same time a fear of losing her place in the spotlight. Sure, her character loves August, but that love has been replaced with fear and isolation. Witherspoon really makes the audience connect with her character on multiple levels. While watching this, there were times that I was slightly disgusted by her flirty, cheating nature, and times where I understood why she felt so trapped. They let you question, or dislike her for just the right amount of time, to draw you into her character, before showing you just how much is really going on with her. They didn’t show her as just the victim from start to finish, and I can appreciate that. Christoph Waltz might just be the best villain of this generation in cinema. There is a slick charisma about him when he steps into a dark role and he takes viewers along for quite a ride. There is a power about him, and his presence when he steps into the role of pretty much any character on screen that demands respect. His role of August is nothing short of that.

The look of this film was absolutely breathtaking. Everything from the magical circus sets, the costumes, and the way they presented the circus performances. I do not like modern day circus’s because I feel like a lot of the original magic has been lost or forgotten, but with this film, I was blown away. They really took their time with the production design, and it shows. They also treated the animals very well during filming, which is important to this girl. The film took the safety of both the humans involved, and the animals very seriously. In fact, the American Humane Association awarded WATER FOR ELEPHANTS its highest rating, “Monitored: Outstanding – ‘No Animals Were Harmed’®.

If you are a fan of animals, this film can be rough to watch at times. Although the animals were not hurt, there are scenes that depict the horrible way that these fun-filled creatures were, and in some cases still are trained and treated. I had to really try not to cover my eyes at parts. Don’t worry though, these animals can take care of themselves (at least in this film!).

I cannot speak more highly about this film. Granted, I have not read the book so please, if you have I would love to know your impression of the film! It had humor, but not cheesy romantic comedy style humor, romance, adventure, and depth. This is not just your typical chick flick!

Overall Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars