movie review
Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen novel leaps gracefully to big screen
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‘Water for Elephants’ is the sort of movie that leaves a lasting impression, partly because it takes place during the Depression when times were tough and people were desperate, and partly because it takes place in a circus setting. It wasn’t a pretty era. It was dark and sad, and people were forced to do things they didn’t want to do in order to survive. But people also tried to make the best of things, which meant going to the traveling circus when it came to town.
But we soon learn that behind the colorful big tops, smiling performers and exotic animals of the Benzini Bros. Circus, it’s a dark, dangerous, depressing place, especially given that it’s owned by an abusive, sadistic man named August (Christoph Waltz). The movie isn’t entirely unsympathetic to this guy, painting him as someone desperate to compete with the famous Ringling Bros. Circus and trying to make ends meet during the Depression. But look, he beats animals and throws his employees off trains in the dead of night. August is a bad man any way you look at it.
But the real story here revolves around 23-year-old Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), who hops a train after his loving parents die in a tragic car accident. It’s only later that he realizes it’s a circus train, which is kismet considering that he was a veterinary student at Cornell University, just shy of graduating when his parents died. So Jacob becomes the circus’ animal caretaker, which also means spending time with the star act—August’s wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon).
Marlena and Jacob are immediately attracted to each other, especially given their love for the circus animals and efforts to protect them from August’s unsavory training methods. August is especially cruel to the newest act, a lovely elephant named Rosie, and some upsetting scenes show him using a sharp prod to train Rosie, causing her to bleed, fall over, and at one point, run away. August is also abusive to Marlena, even as he proclaims his love for her, and then there’s his unpleasant methods of firing employees to cut the budget. He simply has his thugs throw people off the train in the dead of night, not caring whether they live or die.
The fact of the matter is that ‘Water for Elephants’ treads dangerously close to an R rating because of the violence, and I don’t recommend it for kids younger than 15. Between the tragic car accident, the cruel circus owner, and the desperate times, it’s an unsettling, sometimes shocking movie.
This isn’t to say it’s a bad film. Even with the violence, it’s a romantic story about finding magic and beauty in the midst of filth and poverty. And you just know when the film starts with 90-something Jacob (Hal Holbrook) telling a modern-day circus manager (Paul Schneider) about his life-changing experience with the Benzini Bros. circus, you’re going to need a few Kleenex.
Even though he doesn’t have much chemistry with Witherspoon, Pattinson is a good choice to play the younger Jacob, although I’d love to see him do something besides a brooding character caught in a tragic life. He’s played basically that same character in the ‘Twilight’ movies, ‘Remember Me,’ and even ‘Little Ashes’ to a certain extent.
Still, I left ‘Water for Elephants’ feeling like I’d really watched a great movie, something with some depth and attention to detail. It sort of fills up your heart and mind with colorful images and interesting people, and because of that, I urge you to go see it. Just be wary of the PG-13 rating, especially if you have impressionable kids with a passion for animals.
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