I had mixed feelings going into the movie, Water for Elephants. I read the book by Sara Gruen on a long flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago. I finished it over the eight hour flight, but to be honest, I didn't really like the book. I couldn't see the older Jacob and the younger Jacob as the same person. The old Jacob was whiny and had little of the same personality as the younger Jacob. The writing seemed simple- as if written for a much younger audience. The book gave me something to do for eight hours, but otherwise, was unmemorable. Still, I had a good feelings about the movie. The major themes were visual in nature. I wanted to see this Depression era traveling circus, witness visually the dangers of getting on someone's bad side while on a moving train, and most of all see the training of the very independent elephant, Rosie. All of this had the potential to translate well on film.
The story revolves around Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary science student at Cornell. Right before taking his final exam, he learns that his Polish immigrant parents were in a fatal car accident. Because his parents remortgaged the home and business to pay for Jacob's tuition, he is left with nothing. Instead of going back to school and taking his final exam, he leaves for the city to find work. On the way, he jumps a train and is nearly tossed back out by the passengers. He just so happened to jump the train of the Benzini Brothers traveling circus. Jacob is quickly hired as the vet and also quickly falls for Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), the star performer and wife of the boss.
In a way, I was right. Seeing the circus come up and down and the characters and the animals was wonderfully entertaining. The visuals in Francis Lawrence's film were outstanding. Rosie, the elephant stole the show. The supporting cast was convincing as a rowdy bunch of circus people with their own set of honor codes. Cristoph Waltz's August was great as the dangerously unstable owner of the struggling circus. He was desperate, angry, and properly frightening. These positives kept the movie from being completely mediocre. If only, the film had focused more on these characters. Instead, the focus was on the love story- which unfortunately brings the film down. Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon were fine on their own. But when they were in scenes together, things fell apart. I couldn't believe they were in love or even really attracted to each other. They would give each other looks occasionally, and interact in conversation, but there was no spark.
There was enough going for the movie that I can recommend it as a good rental. Enough focus was taken away from the dull love story and placed on the circus itself to keep this movie from being lifeless. It's not groundbreaking or spectacular, but it's fun and beautiful to watch.
