Lincoln (2012)
Movie Watch
With the nation embroiled in still another year with the high death count of Civil War, President...
The Everything Easy Large-Print Crosswords Book: More Than 100 Easy-to-Solve, Supersized Puzzles: Volume 7
Book
Easy to read and to solve! Tired of straining your eyes trying to solve too-small crossword puzzles?...
Sons of Anarchy - Season 3
TV Season
The third season of the American television drama series Sons of Anarchy created by Kurt Sutter...
Magnum Force (1973)
Movie Watch
Magnum Force, which was released in 1973 as a sequel to Dirty Harry has Clint Eastwood reprise his...
Kevin Phillipson (9958 KP) rated Girls Nite Out (1983) in Movies
May 18, 2022
The Great Parade: Broadway's Astonishing, Never-to-be-Forgotten 1963-1964 Season
Book
It was the Broadway season when Barbra Streisand demanded "Don't Rain on My Parade" and Carol...
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Water for Elephants (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Jacob appeals to the vanity of the heartless circus owner and ringmaster, August, convincing him to keep him on as the circus veterinary doctor. One of his first patients is the horse of the circus’ star attraction, Marlena, who also happens to be August’s wife. When Marlena’s horse is replaced by an elephant, Jacob is made responsible for the elephant’s care and training. This gives Marlena and Jacob a common ally in Rosie, the elephant, and a common enemy in an increasingly violent August. Cue the furtive glances, the stilted conversations and awkward moments that signal the start of the mutual attraction between Marlena and Jacob.
While Jacob, Marlena and August form the romantic triangle that drives the story, it’s Rosie and the circus backdrop that provide the more entertaining aspects of the movie. Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine and I Am Legend) pays decent attention to period detail, highlighting the desperation and brutality of The Great Depression while romanticizing the ephemeral circus life and the subversive lifestyles enjoyed in defiance of The Prohibition. Sadly they were just quick peeks into a curious world.
Based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants is a sweet tale told in retrospect by a 90-something-year old Jacob, played by a wistful Hal Holbrook. Robert Pattinson plays young Jacob capably, and I have no doubt his fans will swoon at the many close ups of his brooding stare, pained grimaces and the occasional delighted smile. While this character gives him a few more lines than his more well-known role as Edward, the tortured vampire of the Twilight saga, it was difficult to watch him and not see the similarities in how he portrays Jacob and Edward. Reese Witherspoon’s Marlena was in turns adequately fragile and sufficiently steely. With negligible chemistry, Pattinson and Witherspoon’s performances paled in comparison to that of Christoph Waltz whose sadistic August was played with cunning zeal.
A carefully told story, Water for Elephants is however too carefully told, in a predictable, pedantic pace. However, fans of Pattinson will not be disappointed.