Water for Elephants

I’m a sucker for circus stories and Water for Elephants, based on the best selling novel by Sara Gruen, is fairly faithful to the book. It is a classic romance set in a Depression era circus. Overall I liked the film but for me there were two major weaknesses. One, the chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. Their relationship needed to be so hot it would ignite the big top. They needed to spark, to visibly exude sex. Their passion, though never acted on, needed to drive a powerful man into jealous rage. In this film the romance was a little too PG-13.

Secondly, the stakes needed to be higher. For the people in this circus, things were life and death. Combining two characters for the film Christoph Waltz plays both the animal trainer and the owner of the circus. He is subject to giant mood swings, fits of violence, and yet can be very charming and tender. He’s like nuzzling a lion; you enjoy the attention but always keep your eyes on his claws. You put up with the abuse because you have no where else to go. I wanted to see more desperation.
 
When you travel with a circus, especially during hard times, the circus is your home. It feeds you, shelters you, and in exchange, works you to the bone. But for one brief moment, under the big top, everything is magic, glamour and excitement. The film alludes to this, but I wanted to see more juxtaposition. I wanted to see a love so strong that our hero would risk death. And I wanted a threat so menacing that it would make me squirm. These were violent men, men that would throw you off a moving train if you couldn’t pull your weight, men that would toss you off a train rather than pay you. I wanted to see those extremes, I wanted more contrast. This movie should have gone for the R rating.
 
The circus is a wonderful setting for a love story. It is a community so close-knit that it has its own language and code of justice. For an outsider to be let in is one thing, to have an insider break the code is another. I totally believed Reese Witherspoon as an orphan who allowed herself to be seduced by the glamorous commanding Waltz. Her love of horses and intuition turned her into a circus star and Waltz was just one more animal she learned how to tame. As mean as he could get, there was real affection there and in most cases she could always soothe him. That’s why this young man needed to be someone really special. Someone worth betraying your husband for. I would have like to have seen more of that from Robert Pattinson.
 
I enjoyed the look of this film and savored every period detail, but I also think that the film played it safe. I would have loved to see more of the circus folks and a little more circus culture. We needed to see something redeeming about circus life worth staying for. The film begins with an old man so crazy about the circus that he runs away from his nursing home. By the end of the film we should know why. Water for Elephants is a handsome looking film, but in Jacob’s eyes the circus was beautiful. Maybe we should have seen more from his perspective. Despite everything he never really left. He always kept his love for the circus and Marlena.

Rating: Second Run Pachyderms and passion under the big top