Water For Elephants

Most people have been to a circus at least once. It's an exciting experience: the lights go down, the ringmaster calls out the names of the acts, and beautiful animals and skilled performers take the stage in a stunning spectacle. But we don't really know what goes on before and after we enter that big-top. Water For Elephants, based on the book of the same name, helps us delve behind the scenes of what a ringmaster would call "the greatest show on earth".

Jacob Jankowski has a lot of things going for him, even as the Great Depression rages: he's about to graduate from Cornell University and become a veterinarian, just like his father, and maybe start a family. All that changes in an instant, however, when his parents are killed in a fatal automobile accident. Now left with nothing, he begins riding the rails...and lands on a train hauling an entire circus run by August Rosenbluth. Jacob joins the company and becomes their vet, taking a special interest in their newly aquired elephant...and August's wife, Marlena. However, things quickly become perilous in the seemingly quiet "family", as Jacob realizes just how unstable his boss really is, and he must make a choice: follow his heart, or stay alive.

Water For Elephants is a fascinating film, managing to show us Depression-era life and the workings of a circus without blinking an eye. The script is witty as well, and provides both humorous and tear-jerking moments. The cinemetography is beautiful, and every scene is painted like a picture.

The cast was truly perfection, something I rarely say about a film. Robert Pattinson shows he can be more than just a brooding vampire as he struggles through daily circus life, and Reese Witherspoon plays conflicted Marlena with ease. But it's Christoph Walts who really steals the show as August, the ruthless ringmaster who would do just about anything to make sure the show goes on.

Earlier, I mentioned Jacob has to make a desicion between following his heart and staying alive. But sometimes, your heart can deceive you. The movie portrays Jacob and Marlena's love as something beautiful, but you can't feel completely okay with it. Marlena is still officially married to her husband when she and Jacob begin their whirlwind romance, which is clearly wrong. Sure, August is a jerk, but that doesn't excuse her actions. It is commendable that Jacob desires the best for Marlena, and that he tries to help her, but the fact that they commit adultery is not. 

Water For Elephants (rated PG-13 for moments of intense violence and sexual content) is a solid PG-13. Language includes uses of b----, b------, and a--, and s---. Other content includes a quick scene as two characters prepare to get intimate, the bare back of another woman as she takes her shirt off, and talk of getting into girl's beds. What people might find most disturbing however, is the violence. August is a truly mean guy who has men thrown off his moving train (we see their dead, bloodied bodies), and attempts to murder several other people. He also abuses his animals, repeatedly hitting them and drawing blood.

Water For Elephants is a beautiful film. The acting is of the highest caliber, and watching the characters struggle with right and wrong keeps you on the edge of your seat. If only some things could have been changed, the movie would have truly been perfection.