Starring: Robert Pattinson, Reece Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Runtime: 120 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2011
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This morning a Melbourne reviewer, who obviously had forgotten to take his happy pill, gave Water for Elephants no stars out of five and vented a bit of spleen throughout his review, trying to prove it should not get any stars. This afternoon, the group behind me in the cinema shed some tears, compared it favourably to the book by Sara Gruen, one declaring the film was excellent.
So, somewhere in between.
While the film opens in the present with a very old man standing in the rain watching the circus gear being packed up, and then narrating his story to the manager of the circus, and hoping to get a job instead of going back to his nursing home, the main story is one from the Great Depression, 1931. Hal Holbrook brings quite some dignity to the old man.
As he tells his story (which leads us to expect a circus disaster), his voice changes into that of his younger self, Jacob, the son of Polish migrants who is studying at Cornell to be a vet. He is forced to cut short his studies when his parents die in an accident and he hops a train which belongs to the Benzini Brothers Circus.
This is a circus story (which certainly doesn’t paint the circus fraternity as a nice and welcoming community) but it is quite interesting as it takes us into that community and the life and work demanded to keep the show going. And, in the Depression, times are tough, audiences can be scarce, and there is the pressure of selling tickets as well as finding new acts.
Jacob is almost thrown out but proves his worth with his veterinary knowledge. While he does the most menial jobs at first, when the circus acquires an elephant, he not only carries the water for Rosie the elephant but he is its keeper and trainer. The rider of the elephant is Marlena, the wife of the circus owner and manager, August. And, yes, you are not wrong. There will be emotional complications.
The film depends very much on the presence and performance by Robert Pattinson. His Twilight fans will have no difficulty is responding well to him. Those who find his undead Edward Cullen too passively pale and morose will cheer up to find that Water for Elephants can depend on him after all. It’s a pleasantly standard performance but it is something of a relief to see that there is a life for Pattinson after Edward (despite his vampiric immortality) and this is a boost to Pattinson’s career. Actually, he laughs a lot, perhaps grins too often, but, with a short back and sides, and getting stuck into his elephant care, he presents a strong enough character.
He has to because he is up against August, the circus owner, who is ambitious, desperate, cruel and prone to fly off the handle rather murderously even though he then can repent and present a surface of charm. He is played by Christoph Waltz who won the Oscar and a myriad other awards for his performance as Landa in Inglourious Basterds and then the villain in The Green Hornet. He is also due as Cardinal Richelieu in the 2011 version of The Three Musketeers. He does screen villains who can chill you despite the sometimes front of urbanity.
Marlena is Reese Witherspoon who has a story to explain why she is married to August and the hold he has over her.
The circus disaster does come at the end but is presented in a rather matter of fact way rather than as a big and sensational disaster.
Water for Elephants does deserve some stars – it is easy and popular entertainment.
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