Water For Elephants

[twins2]

Enjoyed it very much.It was a bit slow at first until Rosie came in then everything seemed to get faster and more exciting.

[aruif]

if you don't like the way the news was broken blame the author of the book that is exactly how she wrote it and it gives reason to his leaving and running away and to the end of the entire story.

anyway... i don't think i took it all in i was just too excited! it was a little on the slow side at first but the book was the same i found it slow to start then loved it so much.

i'd already seen so much of it in clips and stills that i felt like i'd seen half the movie already... won't be making that mistake again.

i have such a girl crush on reese... she looks just amazing in this! and I WANT AN ELEPHANT!

can't wait to see it again tomorrow!

8/10

oh - and the cinema was half empty!

edit: i was also a little underwhelmed by some of the scoring, it was good in some parts but i didn't feel like it was as emotional or as dramatic in parts as i thought it should have been. i'll listen more tomorrow, but overall it felt lacking musically for me

[kevinknapman]

I have to admit I was fully expecting to hate this. In the end I didn't but it's a far from perfect film.

Unsurprisingly the weakest aspect was the film's lead. Poor Robert Pattinson. He really can't act can he. He's likeable enough here but he has absolutely no range. There's a scene where he's presumably supposed to be drunk but he seems no different than he does for the rest of the film (seemingly on the verge of falling asleep). Which I'm sure is fine for an emo vampire but a major disadvantage for a real breathing human being.

As a result of this the central romance is never convincing and boy did the film drag during those scenes. A lack of chemistry makes it hard to root for the pair of them. Reece Witherspoon was okay though. The attention given to this insipid romance means that very few of the circus folk get to make much of an impact. Aside from Jim Norton (Camel) and Mark Povinelli (Kinko), the rest are frustratingly underdeveloped including an underused Ken Foree (Earl).

Another disappointment is the disaster itself. We are told at the beginning that it was the third worst circus disaster in history. The result though is surprisingly anti-climactic and left me thinking that there have presumably only ever been three disasters.

It's not all bad news though. As unsurprising as Pattinson's lack of acting skill, is the fact that Christoph Waltz is reliably outstanding. By turns charismatic and unpredictable, you can't take your eyes of him. The film suffers when he's not on screen. Also brilliant in a brief role is the ever-dependable Hal Holbrook. He manages to convey heartbreaking emotion with one look that Pattinson couldn't achieve in the entire movie and that was in the first few minutes. I was disappointed that they didn't keep his narration throughout the movie. His voiceover would have made it far more emotionally involving than Pattison's did. Hell, if the elephant had narrated it, it would have been more emotionally involving.

It's also a very handsome looking film and Francis Lawrence does a solid enough job directing it. The occasionally dodgy CGI moment aside it's visually fairly satisfying. And yes the elephant does pretty much steal the movie whenever it's on-screen.

On the whole, Water for Elephants isn't a terrible movie but it's a deeply flawed one that makes it hard to recommend. See it for Christoph Waltz and a brief masterclass in acting from Hal Holbrook.
If nothing else though Water for Elephants gave me the excuse to mention stars of 'Father Ted' and 'Dawn of the Dead' in the same sentence, and how often does that happen.

[Beate]

Whay does kk always say it so much better than I ever could? Next time I will wait for his review and just say "ditto"!

[TheDude]

Nice looking circus tent, shame about the star attraction! There was a review somewhere that said Pattinson has "the emotional range of a teaspoon", made me laugh, and now I see it's kind of true. I'm not a fan, and that's where the film loses most of the points for me. Witherspoon is adequate, and Waltz a suitably menacing control freak. I'm sure the book is good, it's all nicely filmed but kind of dragged in the middle before picking up towards the end. I'll say 6/10.

The highlights for me were the performances of two old timers, Jim Norton (Bishop Brennan from one of the best Father Ted episodes ever), I had no idea he was in this film, and Hal Holbrook (who I mentioned earlier in the thread) both of whom deserve 10/10.

[a_person]

Greenwich was almost empty. Only 58 seats were used (my bag was also watching the movie) and it was in a small screen too (Screen 1). Also the usher was a complete dufus. When the screen was ready, he goes, "The talkers screening is now ready." WTF is talkers?? Naturally nobody moved until one woman came forward with her sheet and he accepted it and then everybody came forward. A woman was abit pissed off as she moved forward to show her tickets at the same time as I showed mine and the usher was not sure whose ticket to take. I pushed ahead as I was waiting before her. Sorry I left you at that precise moment Deni but I needed to make sure we get those three seats in the middle that we sat on. The other option were the premier seats and I absolutely hate them! Great to chat with you too.

I was abit bored in the beginning but I did really start enjoying this. I agree with everything kk says and only wish my words were as eloquent as his! Robert Pattinson should stop acting. He is awful! Although slightly better acting here than in "Remember Me" which almost killed me.

I really disliked the animal cruelty especially beating Rosie, Deni and I had to look away. I did enjoy the little circus shows though even though they were very brief! Loved the animals! I thought her bf was crying but saw he was rubbing his eyes. Rosie was so cute. What language were they speaking in to communicate with Rosie?

All in all, it's not brilliant but was watchable. I'd only recommend this to Pattinson fans who can comprehend what is going on and not just allowing their eyes to pop out at him. 7/10.

[Beate]

What language were they speaking in to communicate with Rosie?

Polish.

[a_person]

Thanks.

[rawsalsa]

Loved this film, the cinematography, the cast & most definitely Rosie. Fabulous.

[FOXY9MILL]

Watched this film last night, it was absolutely brilliant so much better than I expected it to be.