Directed By: Francis Lawrence Screenplay: Richard LaGravenese Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz It is old-fashioned, sentimental and melodramatic but an honest adaptation of a best seller novel (Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants).
Some will love it for its simplicity and some will loathe it for the very same reason.
Some will find it moving while others will find it bizarre.
Its pace and treatment makes it "not everyone's piece of cake".
Jacob (Robert Pattinson) goes into the flashback -1932 the era of great depression.
After his parent's death Jacob has to abandon his veterinary studies and join a travelling circus where he serves as a vet.
He finds there a beautiful woman Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) performing with horses.
He gets into trouble when he informs August (Christoph Waltz), moody circus owner and Marlena's husband, that the main horse has some disease and needs to have rest.
Marlena and Jacob connect via their shared interest; the love of animals and their fear of August, a driven, obsessive man who can be good one minute and bad the next minute.
August nearly bankrupts the circus when he invests in an elephant (Rosie) that balks at his brutal training methods.
Eventually, Jacob discovers the secret to making the animal perform.
Elephant act, with Marlena as rider, becomes the show's big moneymaker.
All is well until August begins to notice the mutual affection between his wife and his veterinarian.
Rosie is played by Tai, a 42-year-old veteran of motion pictures.
The sequences with Tai the elephant are extraordinary.
Seeing Reese on top as Tai gets up on her hind legs reaching for sky is breathtaking.
The director, Francis Lawrence, has handled all the moods from light to dark beautifully.
He has remained true to the novel and has given life to it magically.
The performances of the three leads are exemplary, Reese Witherspoon is never seen any better.
Robert Pattinson does quite well and will help him take his career beyond vampirism (Twilight).
Pattinson and Reese both are solid but together somehow their characters don't make the kind of impression as can be expected.
We have seen better romantic chemistries this year (the adjustment bureau, source code).
Waltz dazzles; he is just so good and is the real star of the film.
But there's so much more.
The sheer magic of the circus - the big top going up is so exhilarating - the performances, particularly of Rosie just make you remember how wonderful that world is.
Some will love it for its simplicity and some will loathe it for the very same reason.
Some will find it moving while others will find it bizarre.
Its pace and treatment makes it "not everyone's piece of cake".
Jacob (Robert Pattinson) goes into the flashback -1932 the era of great depression.
After his parent's death Jacob has to abandon his veterinary studies and join a travelling circus where he serves as a vet.
He finds there a beautiful woman Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) performing with horses.
He gets into trouble when he informs August (Christoph Waltz), moody circus owner and Marlena's husband, that the main horse has some disease and needs to have rest.
Marlena and Jacob connect via their shared interest; the love of animals and their fear of August, a driven, obsessive man who can be good one minute and bad the next minute.
August nearly bankrupts the circus when he invests in an elephant (Rosie) that balks at his brutal training methods.
Eventually, Jacob discovers the secret to making the animal perform.
Elephant act, with Marlena as rider, becomes the show's big moneymaker.
All is well until August begins to notice the mutual affection between his wife and his veterinarian.
Rosie is played by Tai, a 42-year-old veteran of motion pictures.
The sequences with Tai the elephant are extraordinary.
Seeing Reese on top as Tai gets up on her hind legs reaching for sky is breathtaking.
The director, Francis Lawrence, has handled all the moods from light to dark beautifully.
He has remained true to the novel and has given life to it magically.
The performances of the three leads are exemplary, Reese Witherspoon is never seen any better.
Robert Pattinson does quite well and will help him take his career beyond vampirism (Twilight).
Pattinson and Reese both are solid but together somehow their characters don't make the kind of impression as can be expected.
We have seen better romantic chemistries this year (the adjustment bureau, source code).
Waltz dazzles; he is just so good and is the real star of the film.
But there's so much more.
The sheer magic of the circus - the big top going up is so exhilarating - the performances, particularly of Rosie just make you remember how wonderful that world is.
Source...