Customer Reviews

Water for Elephants

5 star:		(126)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I have to admit that Water for Elephants was a decent representation of the book. Take into consideration that a movie is never going to give you 100% of the book. That being said, I was disappointed with the parts of the book the movie left out. There were lots of little details and nuances that just can't come across on the full screen anyway, although you would have liked to have seen how they would have been portrayed. Although too numerous to mention and for those who haven't read the book it wouldn't matter anyway, the biggest (for those who have read it) would be the comedic scenes that play out with Jacob in the nursing home. All of those chapters were completely left out.

We open with an old man (Hal Holbrook) wandering into the parking lot of a circus that is packing up and moving out. A workman comes out to see if he is lost and invites him in out of the rain while the man calls the nursing home. The old man looks at the old black and white circus photos on the wall and recalls out loud which circuses they are from. This grabs the worker's attention and he mentions the Benzini Brothers Circus tragedy from years ago. The old man says he was there and the worker asks him to tell him about it. We flash back to a younger gentleman played by Robert Pattinson and the movie is played out as a flashback of the old man's story.

Although I never would have expected it, Robert Pattinson plays out a perfect Jacob. That irresistible smile he gets on his face when he's around the animals definitely lets us connect with Jacob the way we wanted to see him connecting with Rosie the elephant. Perfect choice for the part!

Christoph Waltz was a decent August, the ring master and circus owner. I pictured someone larger and darker, maybe more Italian looking, when I was reading the book but August's charm and charisma as a business man, and brutality and harshness as a monster, really made him a different type of character that readers will both appreciate and despise. We really see him on the verge of snapping and just how quickly it can happen. There is one scene where he becomes angry with Rosie that really sets that uncomfortable tone you get from him in the book.

Reese was Reese, what can I say. She's beautiful to look at, but just not as sexy and alluring as Marlena comes across sometimes in the book. Still a decent performance from her though and she and Robert make a cute couple.

Speaking of sex, there's a lot of it in the book including a strip tease tent in the circus. Those scenes are in the movie, but treated with dignity and careful camera angles - obviously allowing this movie its PG13 rating. It drags in places where we have to witness the slow glances and connections being made between Jacob and Marlena. August's discovery of the two is a bit rushed, but after that the action picks up making the last half of the movie pretty solid. The sad redlighting treatment of circus workers being thrown from the train out of spite and to lighten the financial load is there, balanced with a breathtaking scene of Jacob and August walking across the top of the train in motion. And then there's old Rosie, and you can't help but smile along with Jacob at the gentle beast when she performs or is providing comedic relief.

Non-book readers might find the movie a bit slow at times but will enjoy it overall. After all, we each have our own favorite circus act, right? Some book lovers will certainly be disappointed, but if you try hard to approach the movie with a different set of eyes (and lower your expectations just a tad) you will be well entertained. I know I was.

All I can say is if you have a couple of hours free, spend it watching this movie....I was mesmerised from beginning to end. The cast are the best cast for this movie and the love traingle leaves you hanging right to the end.I had the pleasure of reading the book as well, before watching the movie, and I have to say this is a rare occasion that the movie was on par with the book...although I feel there should of been more in the movie of Jacob at the nursing home, as I found these scenes quite comical in the book. I would of liked to have seen the children grown up in the movie, so we can see if the children ressemble the pure beauty of Marlena and Jacob, but maybe that's just me.

So what are you waiting for, go grab the book or watch the movie, or be like me, and do both.... Happy watchin and readin friends xx

I went with 3 relatives to see this film today and all four of us loved it! Last summer I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. When they said they were making a film of the book I really looked forward to it. Just before we went to see it today, someone told us the film was getting bad reviews and there wasn't real chemistry between the actors. Well after the film finished we all looked at eachother and discussed how terrific it was and couldn't figure out why it received such poor reviews. From what I remember about the book, the movie followed it pretty well, it was entertaining, and we thought the actors chemistry was realistic. Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz did fine jobs acting. We all agreed how wonderful it was, and the four of us rarely all agree. Go see the film!

I had read the reviews of this movie before I went to see it. My expectations were low due to the mixed reviews - but I had an open mind. I really like Reese Witherspoon and when I walked out of the movie, while I thought she did a good job I felt she was miscast in the part. I thought someone more like Scarlett Johannson would have been more in tune to the part - needed someone that was a little "dirty". Reese always plays the angelic, nice girl - so since I felt Marlena had been around the block a bit and was a bit "used" someone that really doesn't fit Reese's nice girl image. I thought Reese and Pattinson did a credible job - Christoph Waltz was really good.

Once I reflected on the movie, I realized that the story is being told from Jacobs eyes - from the age of 23 and again at 92. When he joined the circus and during his life Jacob saw Marlena as innocent,angelic and sweet - I kind of expected to see a light glow around Reese throughout the movie. So, in reality perhaps Reese was the right person cast as Marlena. Anyway, it is a good story and good movie.

Water for Elephants, a dramatic romance novel written by Sarah Gruen, was published in 2006 and has become quite a hit. It was said to be "gorgeous, brilliant, and superbly plotted" by the author Joshilyn Jackson. The book is narrated by a 93 year old, Jacob Jankowski. Jacob is spending his remaining years in a nursing home, reminiscing of his life and experiences in the circus. When he was 23, his life took a drastic turn when his parents died in a car accident. Jacob is left with no money and drops out of Cornell University, as he was studying to be a vet. Heartbroken, he finds himself on a circus train and quickly becomes the vet of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. This book has become such a success and was made into a movie in 2011, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.

Don't worry about the movie ruining the novel. The movie does an excellent job following Gruen's lead. It is common knowledge that the movie can never cover everything that happens in the book, but I was still very impressed with the quantity they did fit into the movie. The main events in the novel were portrayed well on the big screen. The movie producers did well using Gruen's detail in the book to develop the ultimate circus appearance. From the pink lace Marlena performs in, to the beautiful circus colors, this movie has it spot on.
This isn't your typical Notebook romance where their love is the main concentration. It's a love story amongst the darkness and hardships of being in a circus. The storyline is interesting, there are so many other things going on besides the building romance between Jacob and Marlena. Although, once the romance takes off, the move goes with it and has a tasteful twist at the end.

Some critics have ripped apart this movie, saying Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson lack chemistry and fail to represent Jacob and Marlena in Gruen's novel. When I put in this movie I was expecting it to be awkward, like Pattinson in the Twilight movies, but thankfully I was wrong. Robert Pattinson did an excellent job as Jacob. He dominated the screen with his good looks and his shining smile. He let the audience in on Jacob's animal lover personality by irresistibly glowing around the circus animals. Reese Witherspoon was amazing playing her part, as always.

Water for Elephants has beautiful cinematography, a wonderful cast, and a mesmerizing storyline. I loved it. I recommend this movie to everyone. Robert Pattinson really outdid this movie. This is the best I've seen him. If you're a softy for animals and romance, you're going to love this one.

If you were a fan of Sara Gruen's gritty and romantic novel, don't expect to see it in this film. Though visually stunning, the film's miscasting woes and lack of real chemistry makes the film seem like a shallow, pale version of the gripping novel.

Witherspoon and Pattinson are both able actors, but they make an odd pairing with little sizzle on screen. It is doubtful the two were ever auditioned together before being offered the roles, if they had, perhaps the casting would have been different. Witherspoon does her best with what she's given, and Pattinson, despite being the main character, has very little dialogue compared to the enormous amount of closeups featuring hard glares and longing stares.

The film's only real bright spot is Waltz as the vicious ringmaster, August. Waltz is fantastic as ever, but far too reminiscent of his role in Inglorious Bastards. The movie cheapens the depth and complexity of the book's August by senselessly marrying him with the novel's disreputable ringmaster Uncle Al, ignoring his kind and charismatic moments, and never questioning his mental stability. This makes it far to easy for the audience to see August as unequivocally malicious, rather than making the audience sit with the discomfort of being in his wife Marlena's shoes: adoring the charismatic and vibrant August and fearing his violent and psychotic side. In my opinion, it is August's two sides that make him both pitiable and terrifying, allowing for a more complex experience, emphasizing the truth that there is no black and white, good or evil, but shades of gray in between.

Witherspoon's Marlena is performed as well as possible, seeing as the script writers seem to have ripped the spine right out of the poor character. In classic Hollywood style, the script unnecessarily rewrites details of the story to make her seem like a broken damsel in distress just waiting for someone like Pattinson's Jacob to rescue her. Without the sass and courage of the book's Marlena, it is confusing why Jacob would be interested in her other than the old sexist notion that he needs to "fix" her.

If you haven't read the book, then what a fun adventure this film must be. And I admit that at times I too was swept up in the grandeur of the set dressing. But the film manages to trade in the book's gripping and complex love triangle for the ease of a domestic abuse rescue story that simply rubs the wrong way.

I had heard a lot about this movie so I finally went to see it. Great story and cast. My only problem is that I am a huge animal lover and elephants have a special place in my heart. They are SO devoted to one another and they cry tears when they are upset or hurt.
There is a part in this film that disturbed me so much I had to get up and walk out.(I hate any cruelty to animals and/or children, they are so helpless ).
My frineds told me to go back as it had a happy ending, which I did and indeed it was a very happy, justifiable ending. I would recommend this film to all.

I loved this movie! The acting was great. It had spectacular cinematography and the directing was good.
That said I thought the screenplay could have been better. It should have fleshed out Marlena's character. Even in the book you only feel as if you're really getting to know her late in the book and those scenes were completely left out. This left her character a little shallower than in the book, although even in it you didn't really feel as if you knew her. I hoped they would correct that in the movie, but unfortunately it was the opposite.
Despite that gripe, I really loved this movie. Reese made the most out of of her character and Waltz was truly charismatic, yet frightening. And the interactions between Reese and Pattinson are steamy. (Although those could have been fleshed out too). But Jacob's interactions with Rosie steal the show though. I wanted more of those too. I thought the scenes of her abuse were even more heart-wrenching in the movie. Jacob looked destroyed by her pain.
I truly loved this movie.

I truly loved the book, and was in great anticipation of the movie..Hoping that
the director would capture the essence of the story...it was a complex story that
took you on a very intense journey through the circus world of the late 20's early
30's...A hard time in the history of America. The director and actors zeroed right
in on that "essence." The cinema photography was phenomenal...When I read that any-
one found any fault in this movie, I wonder if we watched the same movie at all...
This is a wondrous movie for anyone...man, woman, or child...I was fortunate to see
it on opening day, Friday afternoon, work day...the theatre was filled, I personally
took a mental note of demographics...it was a well balanced grouping of men and
women...At the end of the movie, people were actually applauding in the theatre...
I urge anyone who are fans of the actors or director to see this movie, you will not
be disappointed...It is a "Amazing Movie."

Not having read the book, I mainly went into this to watch Christoph Waltz do anything on film. I was not disappointed and was actually surprised with the Blu quality and features.

The story leaps between Depression era circus life and brief modern day flashbacks of an old man lost at a just-finished big-top. All of the performances were standard, with Waltz stealing the quality scene time from everyone else. The story was entertaining, sad and made to be believable from each perspective (good and bad). Animal lovers will have some difficulty getting through some of the scenes, but at least the filmmakers did not sugarcoat how the animals were treated back then.

The Blu clarity actually shined through, and with so many CGI sequences there were plenty of chances to fail. The nighttime shots on top of the moving train showed inevitable lighting weaknesses, but they still provided a sufficient scope. Otherwise, the colors and line definition shine brilliantly, especially in Reese's scenes and the with amount of vivid close-ups for every actor there should be no question how every speck of makeup looks. The 5.1 DTS is tested frequently with the train shots - which vary widely depending on the indoor or outdoor mix.

The talking-head supplements are worth the time, especially the one covering the elephant participation/actress bio. In watching that particular one you begin to realize how many green screens were behind the actors (and elephant) through most of the film. They total an hour but if you liked the film and want more info, especially for the large volume of detractors that are upset with the book-to-film translation (watch the Page to Screen docu) then I think these will be worth the investment. The second disc is a Dig Copy only, the BD is region coded A, English and Spanish subs/languages with a French language track added also.. Hope you enjoy it.