Movie Review Rewind: Water for Elephants (2011)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2011 for a look at Water for Elephants on this installment of Movie Review Rewind.

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After reading the novel by Sara Gruen, I was really excited and curious when I heard the news about Water for Elephants being turned in to a film. Now after seeing it, it is not better than the book, however, the film tells the story in a beautiful, endearing way and hits all the main points. And the three central characters have actors turning them in to flesh and blood and the performances are top-notch. And yes I am including Robert Pattinson.

Jacob (Pattinson) is a veterinary student who is one test away from becoming a veterinarian, but leaves it all behind once he finds out his parents have been killed in a car wreck. With no future plans and having no idea what to do, he jumps on a train that is carrying a traveling circus ran by August (Christoph Waltz). Jacob becomes the circus’ vet but soon becomes involved in a love triangle once he spots August’s wife and main star, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). And he begins to fall in love with her while they train with an intelligent elephant named Rosie, the circus’ new main attraction that August hopes will bring in the crowds. Jacob and Marlena find themselves in a forbidden relationship under the Big Top and nothing but trouble awaits them.

Witherspoon and Waltz are Oscar winners, and they show us why in this film. Witherspoon shines and sparkles and does a great job, but it’s no June Carter in Walk the Line. Yet it may possibly be her most solid performance in quite a while. And Waltz will forever been known for being in Inglourious Basterds. His performance practically took that film to another level. And since then, he has only played villains (he also played the bad guy in The Green Hornet earlier this year). So I hope to see him do other things, but as August, he is terrifically evil. He is charismatic, charming, but has a real temper. August ha turned his traveling circus in to the “Most Spectacular Show on Earth!” But he is a man who feels the stress and pressure of it all. And Marlena is his pride and joy, and if she slips away then so does everything else he has worked so hard for.

But perhaps the most impressive performance in Water for Elephants comes from Pattinson. The Twilight movies haven’t really shown what he is capable of. But this film gives him that opportunity and he holds his own alongside Witherspoon and Waltz, and that is pretty damn good. While his chemistry with Witherspoon could have been better, he really displays affection for her and the animals of the circus for that matter. Jacob is a young, bright, but confused young man who is wanting to escape and what better place than a circus. But he definitely gets more than he ever imagined once he gets on that train.  

Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend) captures the Depression-era so elegantly and it is a sight to see. He creates such a colorful story with amazing visuals, and it makes you imagine and cringe when it comes to a dying circus and what it must do in order to survive. Better yet, what August has to do in order to survive. Water for Elephants keeps you involved and entertained, and right when you think it couldn’t get any better, the legendary Hal Holbrook knocks it out of the park.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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