Movie Review Monday - Water for Elephants

After unexpected car trouble (I'll leave this story for another post...) I raced home Thursday night to make a pit stop at Loverboy's apartment, and then continued to New Brunswick to meet Diana and Jessica for the midnight premiere of Water for Elephants. My excitement was hardly containable as I fidgeted in my seat throughout the twenty-plus(!!) minutes of previews.  D & J were slightly less excited (I later found out they never read the book) and I have a feeling they were more entertained by the giddyness of their overly-excited movie-goer of a best friend.

I was not disappointed.  Nor should I have been, with major players like Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, and Robert Pattinson to build off the strong foundation of a #1 NYT Best-selling novel.  The amateur movie critique in me (thank you ENGL329a: Cinema of Liberation) would like to proclaim the following: The scenery was extraordinary.  The circus scenes were nothing less than magical, and I think the movie truly captured the experience of life during the depression.  I had low expectations for Pattinson's performance after seeing the Twilight series, but he was surprisingly animated and believable as the college student he played.  What wasn't easy to believe was the romance between Marlena (Witherspoon) and Jacob (Pattinson.) Maybe it was the knowledge of their real-life age difference that put a mental barrier against their on-stage love, or maybe there wasn't enough plot development for their romance to flourish, but either way the on-camera chemistry simply wasn't there.  August, the dangerously moody villain of the movie, was the shining star of the entire film.  Christoph Waltz brilliantly balanced the charisma of August's upswings and the dark abuse of his downswings; Loved every scene he was in.


Overall, I was very pleased with the movie. I highly recommend it, even if you haven't first read the book!




On a side note, I spent Saturday night waiting for C to finish his second ink session by watching Little Fockers with Mom&Dad.  Funny flick. Not as funny as the first two, but certainly entertaining. I'd give it a B-.  Lose Jessica Alba and I might bump it up to a B.