Author Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants is powerful, passionate, and colorful, and the Depression Era fairly leaps off the page and comes alive while you’re reading her engrossing novel. The film version attempts to live up to bestselling, award-winning novel, with Twilight‘s Robert Pattinson and Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon as compassionate, animal-loving, star-crossed strangers who fall in love under the big top. The big question is, will the film satisfy fans of the book? And the answer is, yes, for the most part.
The Story
As Jacob (Pattinson) sits down to take his final exams at Cornell University, a school administrator delivers the devastating news that his parents have just been killed in an auto accident. At the bank, he receives even more bad news, as he learns that – without his knowledge – his parents took out loans they had no way of repaying to put him through veterinary school. Left penniless and with no family to turn to for support, Jacob packs his entire life away in one small bag and hits the road.
With no plan and no means of support, Jacob sets out along the train tracks in the direction of the next major city where employment might be found. When a train comes along, instead of stepping aside until it passes, Jacob takes a chance and jumps on board, unaware of where it’s heading.
It turns out this particular train belongs to the Benzini Brothers Circus, and after a rough introduction to some of the circus’ employees, Jacob finds himself in front of the boss, August (Christoph Waltz), hat in hand, looking for a job. When August learns Jacob’s a Cornell-educated vet (though Jacob fails to reveal he never passed his final exams), he gives him the job of caring for the show’s animal performers.
His new job as the show’s animal doctor puts Jacob, a shy, soft-spoken, decent young man, in direct contact with the circus’ star, Marlena (Witherspoon), who also happens to be August’s wife. Jacob immediately falls for the platinum blonde beauty who has a way with animals. They bond over their mutual love of the show’s four-legged performers, and that sets August – a man prone to violent outbursts – on edge. August is a powerful, ruthless ruler over every aspect of the Benzini Brothers Circus, a human powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
After a mishap in the arena, August savagely beats the show’s main draw, Rosie the elephant. Although he’s later remorseful for his despicable actions, it’s obvious he has a history of lashing out and being physically abusive whenever he’s upset. And as Jacob falls deeper in love with Marlena, August is pushed beyond his breaking point.
Director Lawrence is best known for helming the Will Smith post-apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend, and seems an odd choice for handling this contained, character-driven piece. Lawrence does a decent job, but the film’s too sexually subdued, too safe when it should smolder. There’s zero chemistry between Pattinson and Witherspoon, though both gamely attempt to ignite a spark. Witherspoon needed to play it sexier; she needed to show the audience why in just a matter of minutes Pattinson’s Jacob falls completely in love with this older, married woman. There’s also a vulnerability about the character as written by Gruen that’s lost in translation to the screen.
As for Pattinson, he sheds that Twilight image to completely transform into this earnest young man left floundering after the death of parents. He’s totally believable as a veterinary student just a day away from finishing up exams and getting his license, and his interaction with the animals – in particular the elephant, Tai (who plays Rosie) – looks incredibly natural and honest.
But, once again, it’s Christoph Waltz who steals the show. Waltz has perfected this slimy megalomaniac type of character, this outwardly charming, well-mannered gentleman whose brain is inhabited by a nest full of seething snakes. When August beats poor Rosie – a scene that thankfully takes place behind closed doors – and then comes walking out as though he’s the cock of the walk, it’s Waltz doing what only a few actors can do.
Water for Elephants – The Bottom Line
It’s easy to lose yourself in Water for Elephant’s 1930s world on the screen, though it’s not quite as harsh a life as Gruen’s book depicts. Director Francis Lawrence and his team deliver a fantastical circus world, a romantic version of a time when, for the majority of Americans, it was a day-to-day struggle to survive. Gruen made readers believe that starvation and death were just around the bend for any circus employee unlucky enough to get booted off a moving train when the boss didn’t have the means to pay them their weekly check. The film makes the era look less grim, but that was probably necessary to not completely alienate a contemporary audience (particularly those who haven’t read the book).
Richard LaGravenese (writer/director of Freedom Writers, P.S. I Love You) does an admirable job of adapting Gruen’s book for the screen. No key scenes are lost, although it would have been wonderful to have been able to spend more time with the older version of Jacob (exquisitely played by Hal Holbrook), the character who narrates the book. But both LaGravenese and director Lawrence earn kudos for not shying away from the novel’s depiction of violence towards animals.
As difficult and distasteful a subject matter as it is, August’s beating of the animals in his care is integral to the story and helps display his mental state. Serial killers often start by injuring animals before they move on to people, and it’s important that – as the romance between Jacob and Marlena blossoms – we understand just how depraved August is. If we don’t, then the love story between the married woman and the young doctor does not work.
Water for Elephants is a gorgeous production, with the sets, cinematography, and costumes perfectly evoking the 1930s. The love story – though less passionate than depicted in the book – drives the story and should drive audiences to theaters.
GRADE: B
Water for Elephants was directed by Francis Lawrence and is rated PG-13 for moments of intense violence and sexual content.
Theatrical Release: April 22, 2011
