Movie Review: ‘Water for Elephants’

This week I stepped out of my cinematic comfort zone to watch “Water for Elephants.” I fully expected the movie to follow a simplistic plot and emphasize the glittery vampire-boy’s lack of acting ability and aloof romanticism. I was pleasantly surprised by the artistic elements and depth of character that “Water for Elephants” presented.

Though wary of seeing what I considered to be a chick flick, I was still much more of an applicable audience to it than the next installment of “Big Mama’s House” or whatever it is that Tyler Perry’s “Madea” movies are about.

 

The plot of “Water for Elephants” was presented as a flashback, much like “Saving Private Ryan” or “Big Fish.” An old man remembers back from when he was young in the Great Depression, on the verge of adulthood, when his parents died in a car accident and left him with nothing. Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is forced to run away to the circus when the bank seizes his parents’ home.

 

When Jacob hopped aboard that train to anywhere, he discovers an entirely new world. He is allowed to stay by the grace of the Benzini Brothers’ Circus leader, August (Christoph Waltz), as the circus animals’ veterinarian.

As the circus train stops at a series of one night stands in towns all across America, Jacob becomes close to August’s wife and the circus’s main attraction, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). Of course, he falls in love with the spectacle and beauty of the other man’s wife – and anyone can guess what happens next.

“Water for Elephants” does not have much of a novel idea for a plot, considering that it probably lost some of the magic of imagination from the original book, but still succeeds in its emotional and cinematic appeals.

Though Reese Witherspoon is 10 years older than Pattinson and thus their on-screen romance is a little awkward, the chemistry between their two characters is appealing and even quite beautiful. The audience easily finds itself able to relate to either one of the characters with a certain timeless appeal. Thankfully, I’ve never seen “The Notebook,” but I imagine that the two movies’ love stories are pretty similar.

Cinematically, director Francis Lawrence succeeded in making the movie into a wonderful spectacle. Lawrence is known most notably for “I Am Legend” and “Constantine,” but took an entirely different direction with “Water for Elephants.” The movie got a little bit dull in the middle, but otherwise Lawrence’s artistic direction and use of intrigue kept the audience’s full attention.

As far as the acting goes, Christoph Waltz was a perfect casting for August. His mischievous brand of civilized evil that he mastered in “Inglorious Basterds” fit seamlessly into “Water for Elephants.” Reese Witherspoon was beautiful as always, but stuck to her average romance acting instead of having the chance to show off her raw talent. Robert Pattinson may have also just proved that he can be more than a typecast teenage angst, but there are no promises there.

“Water for Elephants” would of course be a great date movie to go see, but transcends the line of just any average chick flick. The bottom line: unless you’re far too macho to see a movie about love, go check it out. You may just be surprised too.

Grade: B+