Review of Water for Elephants (2011) by Adam M — 04 Dec 2012

People in todayâ(TM)s society care a lot about the rights of animals. Organizations such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) dedicate their time to animal rights. Water for Elephants is a movie about a young man named Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) who has just finished his studies to become a vet. When an accident with his parents causes him to lose all his belongings, he decides to run away and hops onto a moving train. Unexpectedly, he soon becomes the vet for a traveling circus called The Benzini Brothers. Jacob discovers over the next couple of months that the animals of the show are not taken care of well. He even has to put down a horse that is the star act of the circus. The second part of the plot is Jacobâ(TM)s growing love for the ringmasters wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). Through the animals and Augustâ(TM)s (Christoph Waltz) growing knowledge of Jacobs secret, the movie takes us on an adventure causing you to cringe at one moment and root for Jacob the next.

Francis Lawrence is the creative director of Water for Elephants and other films such as Constantine (2005), I am Legend (2007), and The Hunger Games (2012). He has also had success as a music video director for artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, and Aerosmith. Lawrenceâ(TM)s style of movies tends to be horror films and love story dramas or even a mix between the two when it comes to The Hunger Games. Using his creative directing skills, Lawrence was successful in providing a film that showed the emotions and pain of the book visually. 2.

When I watched this movie, I found no problem being entertained. My attention was kept the entire time. I enjoyed this film because it was a storyline that interested me. I found myself rooting for Jacob because I think he deserves Marlena more than August does. Through the empathy they share for an elephant purchased by the circus, Jacob and Marlena fight for love they share against August. Robert Pattinson shows wonderful acting along with Reese Witherspoon through the âloveâ? they are supposed to show for each other. They both successfully make their love seem real for each other; they make us think that the story is real. In turn, their acting is only one thing that makes this movie so good. Anyone would want Jacob and Marlena to be together after experiencing Augustâ(TM)s combative attitude.

A memorable scene that I enjoyed was when Rosie the elephant was chained to the ground to keep her from moving while the tent was set up for the show. Humorously she pulls the stake out of the ground and walks to one of the tents that is selling food. She proceeds to gulp down gallons of the pink lemonade and then returns to her spot to put the stake back in the ground. Even though there are serious parts of the film, I enjoyed the moments where humor was added in too.

What is unfortunate about this magnificent movie is that it has some problems too. The movie suffers from a cliche ending that so many others do. It can be described as the typical predictive ending. What is also hard to watch at sometimes in the film is the cruelty that is put on the animals. In one scene, August has his men hold Jacob down as he beats Rosie the elephant. He does this as punishment because August is aware of Jacobs feelings for Marlena. This theme in the storyline leads back to how the movie relates to certain trends of society today. People do not like watching cruelty being done to animals and certain organizations fight to avoid it.

This movie is one of my favorites that I have ever seen. I recommend this to anyone who is willing to watch it. Because Water for elephants presents us with favorable visuals that we can see with our own eyes to understand the feeling of the characters, it is nothing short of spectacular. We see the 10-foot-tall Rosie lift Marlena high in the air during one of the shows. Jacob finally gives and kisses Marlena to express his feelings to her. Feelings are shown in scenes such as Augusts threatening attack on Jacob coming from the anger supplied by alcohol. We can see how the people feel because of the divine acting we are provided with by Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Chritoph Waltz. We see wonderful acts performed by the circus such as the liberty horses trotting in quick patterns. The sets on the train and during the circus performance give us a colorful picture that no one can take their eye off of. Combining these aspects of the movie, we are supplied with an amazing film.