‘Water for Elephants” is set in 1931, and at times it almost seems to have been made in that year. It doesn’t lack for color or digital sound or anything, but the storytelling style is almost ancient.
The movie is based on a best-selling novel by Sara Gruen. It launches into its story with a
prologue involving an elderly gentleman (Hal Holbrook) bending the ear of a circus worker (Paul Schneider) about the old days.
What follows is a Depression-era fable in which the old man recalls his youth. Veterinary student Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) finds his life going off course when he joins the Benzini Bros. Circus, more or less by accident.
The key ingredients for a romantic drama are provided by big-top horse-rider Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), who just happens to be married to the owner and ringmaster, August (Christoph Waltz).
When August purchases a large elephant to boost attendance and then cruelly mistreats the animal, the stage is set for Jacob, who’s more of an elephant-whisperer type. Marlena doesn’t put up much of a fight when Jacob flashes his bedroom eyes in her direction.
Around the edges, there’s a lot of would-be circus atmosphere, which rarely feels as atmospheric as it is clearly meant to be. Jim Norton makes a pleasant impression as the old circus hand, but most of the other characters blur into anonymity.
The elephant is very good, too. And by the way, if you’re the kind of person that has to turn the channel when the Humane Society commercials come on TV, you might think twice about seeing this movie, since (although its allegiance is clearly with the non-abuse approach) the film depicts some fairly harsh bullying of the main elephant.
As for the human stars, Witherspoon looks overwhelmed by the dusty old plotline; her role feels pretty retrograde. Pattinson, the matinee idol of the “Twilight” pictures, doesn’t muff his chance, but neither does he take ownership of the part.
I was disappointed that Waltz didn’t get into full diabolical gear here; the “Inglourious Basterds” Oscar-winner actually brought more mischievous energy to his villain in the “Green Hornet” movie.
“I Am Legend” director Francis Lawrence gets the look right, and one sequence — Jacob and August atop a train at night — has real magic. The classy talk comes from ace screenwriter Richard LaGravenese, who has excised one of the novel’s main villains.
It’s not a dud, but “Water for Elephants” has a shallow quality of a first draft. Maybe it’s just the sawdust and tinsel of the circus, but this curious film already feels out of date.
“Water for Elephants”
A superficial adaptation of Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel, with Robert Pattinson as a Depression-era student joining the circus and falling for the wife (Reese Witherspoon) of the ringmaster (Christoph Waltz). The movie’s not so much old-fashioned as out-dated, and even the actors don’t work up a great deal of excitement.
Rated: PG-13 for violence
Showing: Alderwood mall, Cinebarre, Everett Mall, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Metro, Pacific Place, Thorton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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