In an extravagant gamble worthy of the fictional Benzini Brothers Circus itself, Fox gives Sara Gruen's grassroots bestseller "Water for Elephants" the glossy, big-budget treatment fans crave, counting on adult women -- plus a younger female contingent keen on seeing "Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson paired with sweet-as-pie Reese Witherspoon -- to prop up a production with a cost apparently on par with a small tentpole. Unlike the story's colorful gang of roustabouts, who dismiss ticket buyers as "rubes," the filmmakers clearly value their public, crafting a splendid period swooner that delivers classic romance and an indelible insider's view of 1930s circus life.A present-day prologue finds nursing-home escapee Jacob Jankowski (played with endearing mock surliness by Hal Holbrook) reminiscing about his tenure under the big top. Taken in by a young circus worker (Paul Schneider) and then encouraged to share his story, Jacob proceeds to explain how a family tragedy on the eve of vet-school exams spared the would-be Cornell grad a predictable life, and led to his hitching a ride with the Benzini Brothers' traveling show instead.Transitioning smoothly back to the character's spring awakening, director Francis Lawrence suggests how robust and alive Jacob's memories have remained all these years, faithfully recreating the initial disorientation and awe the young Polish-American experienced upon first encountering the circus. Looking far more handsome than Holbrook ever did, Pattinson brings the same sullen sensitivity to 23-year-old Jacob that he has to the "Twilight" pics -- perfectly fitting for an overnight orphan so recently derailed from his intended life path.A daisy-fresh college boy out of place among Camel (Jim Norton), Kinko (Mark Povinelli) and the other grizzled old drunks he meets aboard the Benzini Brothers boxcar, Jacob must instantly adjust to the show's elaborate caste system. The stakes, made almost instantly clear, are high: One wrong move and Jacob could be "redlighted," or thrown from the speeding train between stops. Such castoffs seldom survive, and the practice becomes an important subplot for the Depression-era story, as the show's ruthless ringleader regularly jettisons employees whose salaries he can no longer afford.
A decorous, respectable adaptation of Sara Gruen's engaging best-seller, Water for Elephants would have come more excitingly alive with stronger doses of Depression-era grit and sexual spunk. The 1931 circus setting and a love triangle involving three exceedingly attractive people provides a constant wash of scenic pleasure and the film's fidelity to its source will receive nodding approval from the book's many fans, which should result in solid, if unspectacular commercial results for this Fox release. But the vital spark that would have made the drama truly compelling on the screen is missing.
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Under Francis Lawrence's sleekly studied direction, everything has been smoothed out to the extent that even dire poverty does not seem entirely unappealing. Certainly the three leads never do. Looking 300 per cent better than he did in his last non-”Twilight” outing, “Remember Me,” Pattinson is entirely convincing as Jacob, a Cornell veterinary school student who escapes from the ruin provoked by his parents' untimely death by almost inadvertently joining the circus.
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Waltz, in his first big film since soaring to prominence in Inglourious Basterds, again scores strongly as a powerful middle-aged man who doesn't eliminate the snake in his grass before it's too late. As for Witherspoon, she's as fetching as ever as the platinum blonde any guy would want to catch But when August insults Marlena as being of a “common type,” it's clear Witherspoon needed to inject a bit of Jean Harlow into her characterization to emphasize the lower depths from whence she came that can never be entirely erased. Despite the hard glances and suggestion of a working class accent, Marlena is still a shade too much the lady and not enough of a dame.
Hal Holbrook does a nice job framing the tale as an elderly Jacob telling the story to a modern circus worker, although by rights he should be narrating the whole thing, not Pattinson; again, modern audience sensibilities likely came into play.
Craft contributions are excellent, notably Rodrigo Prieto's lustrous cinematography,
Jack Fisk's highly realized production design and Jacqueline West's resourceful costumes.
But the main attraction here is the performances of the three stars. Witherspoon has been very scarce on screen since winning the Best Actress Oscar in 2005 for “Walk the Line.” In the six years before winning the award she appeared in no fewer than nine films. Since, she has appeared in half that number. Her work here is perfectly nuanced in a role that could have quite easily been cliché’d. Waltz is perfect as August in a role that shows us why that Oscar win was so well deserved. But the surprise here, for me anyway, is Pattinson. Quiet and brooding in the “Twilight” films he seems to jump off the screen here, matching Waltz and Witherspoon scene for scene. Who knew this kid could act?? Well done young man. Applause also to the great Hal Holbrook, whose performance bookends the film. And I would be remiss if I didn’t include praise for Rosie the elephant, Queenie the dog and the other animals that help tell the story.
Good news for fans of romantic movies, Water for Elephants respects the rules of the genre perfectly. A simple hero, a femme fatale trapped with a tyrannical husband, an impossible love... all the ingredients are there to make this new film directed by Francis Lawrence a success, especially due to its dream cast. Water for Elephants is a suprising turn for the director of Constantine and I Am Legend. The fears about his unfamiliarity with the romantic genre were understandable but in this movie he quickly proves that he has understood the expectations of his new audience.Water for Elephants proportions perfectly the ingredients needed to make a traditional romantic movie without adding too much sweetness into the mix. However, one could be put off by the opening: an old man telling his story, narrating it as a voice-over - the opening is in fact the only bad thing about the film. Once the film takes us into the past of the hero, Jacob (Robert Pattinson) the story shifts without difficulty into a well constructed classic scenario based not only on romantic issues but also on the nomad universe in which the characters evolve. A universe that Lawrence chose to convey not through the prism of baroque fantasy or dreams but with realism, with all the social misery that the period of the Great Depression entailed. The metaphorical dimension of the train whose employees have become useless is inescapable. This is the context in which Robert Pattinson plays the archetypal character of an educated young man turned outcast following the death of his parents who becomes a foreigner in his own world and decides to abandon it. As you might expect, he falls in love with Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), the wife of August (Christoph Waltz), the violent and unstable boss.With ambitious art direction, the charm of Water for Elephants obviously also rests on its cast: Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon form a very cute couple on screen. Getting away from Twilight and recently seen in Remember Me, Robert Pattinson proves in this film that his talent is not limited to portraying handsome hunks and makes a very endearing Jacob, armed with his boyish smile. However Francis Lawrence sometimes misses opportunities for sensuality in the scenes between the hero and his partner. The filmmaker manages to raise tensions at the height of the love triangle, with Christoph Waltz excelling in the role of the powerful psychopath who is both terrifying and unpredictable. This is done differently to the style of Tarantino. Yet, emotions are truly heightened through the character of Rosie the elephant who will become the object of a power struggle both within the circus and in Marlena's heart. Animal lovers, this film is for you.So yes, with its familiar themes and melodramatic moments (which are tastefully done and not too pronounced), this new Francis Lawrence creation is one of those romantic movies that will quickly find its way into people's hearts. It demonstrates that classicism in a movie is not always a drawback. Water for Elephants is like one of those candies that, provided it is not eaten too often, can bring the most wonderful dream to life.
