I went to see
"Water for Elephants" the other day, and I have to say, it was really an enjoyable film. Based on the wonderfully readable book by Sara Gruen, it is elegantly filmed, with great period costumes and sets, a faithful-to-the-book script, and certainly well cast: Hal Holbrook playing Jacob as an old man, Robert Pattinson as the young Jacob, Reese Witherspoon as Marlena, and Christoph Waltz as August. The main story involves Jacob, a 1931 Cornell veterinary student, who at the end of his senior year undergoes a family tragedy that changes his entire outlook on life. He boards a circus train and manages to talk his way into a job. Honest and hardworking, he hates seeing the ringmaster's cruel treatment of the animals and does his best to avert such incidents; plus when he meets Marlena, the circus performer who is married to August, the ringmaster, he is totally smitten. Eventually, the two recognize what exists between them, but work to keep it under wraps. The alternately charming and dangerously violent August, trying desperately to keep his circus together and profitable, continues to throw workers off the train ("redlighting") without paying them, and buys Rosie, a performing elephant from a failed circus, determined she will be his moneymaker. Jacob is assigned to be Rosie's trainer and caregiver, and Marlena is to create a new act around Rosie.Training is difficult, and the act is begun too soon; Rosie bolts in the circus tent, which leads to a brutal and humiliating punishment by August, with consolation given by Jacob and Marlena. Later, it is Jacob who discovers that the elephant recognizes commands if they are given in Polish and gets the elephant on track to be a star. Rosie, smart and feisty, shows off her various stunts and tricks and becomes a huge hit and moneymaker for August. As the circus flourishes, the relationship between Marlena and Jacob grows cautiously...until the day August discovers their relationship and wreaks terrible and tragic vengeance on all concerned, leading to a thrilling climax wherein it falls to the grateful Rosie to save everyone involved... This is a gorgeous movie, beautiful, dramatic, and at times heart-wrenching in its emotion, a portrait of another time filled with hardships and hopes and dreams, with well crafted characters and a good solid story and performances. Even if you have not read the book, this engrossing film is definitely worth watching.
