Review of Water for Elephants (2011) by Jc E — 02 Mar 2012

Yawn. Wait, what? Oh, this movie went along exactly as I thought it would? "Predictable" is one word that describes this movie, but there should also be mention of "preachy", "awkward", and "monotonous".

Now, when you consider that Robert Pattison (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I) is the lead, it's pretty easy to see that this might be the case. The surprising thing is that the talented co-stars - Reese Witherspoon (This Means War), Christoph Waltz (Green Hornet), and Hal Halbrook (Into the Wild) - are completely wasted on this circus tale.

There's not really a compelling attribute to the film, unless you count the relative allure of the elephant. But seriously, I don't get what people find so attractive about Pattison. Witherspoon, yes, but it's sad she got roped into this banal adaptation of what must be quite a boring read.

There is absolutely no chemistry between her and Pattison, creating awkward scenes and unintentionally humorous situations. Also, the animal abuse side message is quite annoying, especially given that Waltz seems to be typecast as a villain in almost everything.

Plus it's slow and over-narrated. Quite a snoozer, actually.