Roll up, roll up
Monday, May 9, 2011
A midget, two Oscar-winners, an elephant and a heart throb walk into a cinema. It's not the start of a joke, it's actually the start of Water For Elephants; an opulent period romance based on the best-selling book by Sara Gruen. It's 1931 in America and Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) is a 20-something veterinary student preparing to sit for his final exams when he receives the news his Polish immigrant parents have been killed in a car accident. Grief-stricken and penniless, Jacob jumps aboard the train of a travelling circus; The Benzini Brothers. Here he befriends the resident circus freaks including midget clown Kinko (Mark Povinelli) and the beautiful star Marlena (Reese Witherspoon).
His skill and natural ability with the animals attracts the attention of Marlena's husband and ringmaster August (Christoph Waltz), who hires him as the circus veterinary. His main task is to train a newly acquired elephant, Rosie, to perform in a new segment with Marlena. But as Jacob begins to settle into his new family within the circus, he realises there's a sinister underbelly. August tell Jacob "the world's run on tricks . . .everybody plays'' and he soon realises the ringmaster, although charming at times, is actually a psychotic and abusive individual who runs the circus with an iron first. As Jacob and Marlena begin to fall in love and the danger of their situation intensifies, the couple and their friends unwittingly head down a path towards the "most famous circus disaster of all time.''
His skill and natural ability with the animals attracts the attention of Marlena's husband and ringmaster August (Christoph Waltz), who hires him as the circus veterinary. His main task is to train a newly acquired elephant, Rosie, to perform in a new segment with Marlena. But as Jacob begins to settle into his new family within the circus, he realises there's a sinister underbelly. August tell Jacob "the world's run on tricks . . .everybody plays'' and he soon realises the ringmaster, although charming at times, is actually a psychotic and abusive individual who runs the circus with an iron first. As Jacob and Marlena begin to fall in love and the danger of their situation intensifies, the couple and their friends unwittingly head down a path towards the "most famous circus disaster of all time.''
From the old-person-reflecting-on-a-disaster opening, to the epic scale and grandiose spectacle of the set pieces; Water For Elephants is the Titanic of circus movies. The number of flawless filmic elements pour out of the film like clowns piling out of miniature car and director Francis Lawrence has made an eye-ravishing feature. It's a considerably softer film than Lawrence's previous work, which covered everything from a zombie apocalypse (I Am Legend) to a demon detective (Constantine). Not exactly a diverse filmography, but his past life as a music director for the likes of Britney Spears, Janet Jackson and OK Go comes to the fore. It's a period film with MTV sheen.
Outside of the panty-throwing hysteria of The Twilight Saga, Pattinson shows the range of his formidable acting talent which he hinted at in the underrated Remember Me. Jacob is a compassionate, intelligent character and the fact Pattinson manages to stand his own against two Oscar-winners in Witherspoon and Waltz is impressive. Although it would be nice to see him break type and play a villain, Pattinson does make a great romantic hero. Witherspoon is gorgeous as the dazzling Marlena and gives a box-ticking performance, but her increasingly aggressive chin threatens to out-do the elephant in the room, quite literally. For star-crossed lovers there's a sizable lack of chemistry between Witherspoon and Pattinson, probably because they've made it so clear in interviews that they loath each other, but the story and environment more than make up for it. Just as with his breakout turn in Inglourious Basterds, Waltz is a force to be reckoned with as the animalistic August and he steals the show from his co-stars.
Outside of the panty-throwing hysteria of The Twilight Saga, Pattinson shows the range of his formidable acting talent which he hinted at in the underrated Remember Me. Jacob is a compassionate, intelligent character and the fact Pattinson manages to stand his own against two Oscar-winners in Witherspoon and Waltz is impressive. Although it would be nice to see him break type and play a villain, Pattinson does make a great romantic hero. Witherspoon is gorgeous as the dazzling Marlena and gives a box-ticking performance, but her increasingly aggressive chin threatens to out-do the elephant in the room, quite literally. For star-crossed lovers there's a sizable lack of chemistry between Witherspoon and Pattinson, probably because they've made it so clear in interviews that they loath each other, but the story and environment more than make up for it. Just as with his breakout turn in Inglourious Basterds, Waltz is a force to be reckoned with as the animalistic August and he steals the show from his co-stars.
So come one, come all. Water For Elephants lives up to The Benzini Brothers tagline as a "most spectacular show''.
Water For Elephants is out Thursday, May 12.
