(CNN) Do children still dream of running away to join the circus?
Sara Gruen's best-selling novel, "Water for Elephants," evokes an earlier time, when towns came to a standstill to watch the circus folk parade down Main Street, the glint of tinsel could pass for glamour and the smell of sawdust could make a boy's heart race.
For one thing, we're seeing this world through the sentimental eyes of nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski, reminiscing about his early twenties (Hal Holbrook, morphing into "Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson), when by chance he hopped a train crammed with coochie dancers, clowns, acrobats, dwarves, ringers, razorbacks, roustabouts and enough animals to convince the ringmaster that a Cornell-trained veterinarian (even someone as young and untested as Jacob) is worth adding to the over-stretched payroll.
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For better or worse, this is an unabashedly old-fashioned melodrama, a love story aimed at mature audiences.
While August repeatedly promises the rubes "the most spectacular show on Earth," "Water for Elephants" proves a tonic for anyone who has had it up to here with the visual bombast of the contemporary Hollywood blockbuster. Spectacle does not have to be about shock and awe. The movie unfurls like a big top, or an elephant parade: lugubrious, but imposing.
As for Pattinson, this slender, smoldering 24-year-old is destined to be patronized by the critics and probably a good part of the male population for a while, but he looks like the real deal to me. He has the bone structure, but he also has a sensitivity and seriousness that should stand him in good stead.
This isn't a bad role for him, but there's minimal spark between him and Witherspoon. They seem more besotted with the elephant in the room than with each other. Which is natural enough, I guess, but makes this handsome but rather stagnant movie more of an indulgent wallow than a genuine tearjerker.
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Yet the magical setting created by director Francis Lawrence gives the movie its own set of dreamy moments, fulfilling every fantasy one might have ever had of running away with the circus.
Pattinson's characterization of Jacob as a mysterious outsider contrasts dramatically with Waltz's tyranny over his circus. Witherspoon plays Marlena some place in the middle, calm and cool when she's with Jacob, but dutiful and hanging on to her star status with August.
Yet it's the 9,000 pound elephant in the room that serves as the center of all of the film's inter-connected relationships. Rosie is a cast off from a circus that August buys in hopes it will save The Benzini Bros. show. She's portrayed by Tai, a 42-year-old elephant, who the movie studio calls a "motion picture veteran" having appeared in "Bigger Than Life" and "The Jungle Book."
Get out the Kleenex, animal lovers. You will shed more than a few tears and have great concern for Rosie in a scene where August heinously abuses the elephant. But feel comfort in knowing that the filmmakers took extra special care around Tai during those scenes. Through digital effects and careful animal training, Tai was protected and never even slightly exposed to a prod or poke. The Animal Humane Association monitored all of the scenes involving animals.
Still, even knowing all aforementioned behind-the-scenes facts, animal lovers will have a tough time watching some of the scenes. The emotion that is stirred, however, is a true testament to the film and the book's richness in its portrayal of the dynamics of all kinds of relationships: relationship with self, family, friends and, yes, animals.
"Water for Elephants" is, much like its main attraction, a gentle giant. It comes pretty darn close to being one of the greatest shows on Earth.
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Unfortunately, this story is as predictable as a Rafael Nadal tennis match on clay. Everyone in the room knows that Jacob and Marlena are going to have a moment. They also know that August is suspicious and could possibly turn on his new favorite employee. These angles are revealed in this review because this novel was published in 2006. Knowing that, one would have hoped that author Sara Gruen would deviate from a pattern seen in so many dramas, that tackle the coming-of-age/mentor takes a guy under his wing storyline. It’s just too obvious.
With that said, the performance of Waltz is the attraction that will keep the viewer interested. The guy can transition as well as anyone in the business when factoring in a wide-range of emotions. And he does it numerous times in the same scene to boot. Coming in second in the top performance category is the elephant. This isn’t to completely knock Pattinson’s or Witherspoon’s performance here, but the elephant had more charisma than both of them.
Some of that might have to do with the scripting, but the only time this flick tugs on the heart strings is when the elephant plot point is in the forefront.
Now even though this review may lead you to suspect that yours truly wasn’t entirely enamored with this tale, that is not the case.
Despite the predictability, the depicted behind-the-scenes circus lifestyle during that time period was fairly interesting. And the brief Narnia-esque battle at the tail end of the climax was well done. In fact, all the cinematography will rope the viewer right into each sequence. Whether it’s the tight-quartered living conditions of the train, or the roaming around on grounds of the big top, the environment is detailed and enjoyable to explore. And you will receive a decent dose of unique characters to help fill in the “pages” so to speak.
Overall, Water for Elephants as a film, will urge one to give the novel a read. You can feel how this could be a page-turner even though the material doesn’t fully translate well to the screen. However, the style and delivery fits well with the time period on display, leading the atmosphere and tone of the performers to keep the audience engaged all the way through.
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