Review of Water for Elephants (2011) by David M — 31 May 2012

A throwback romance that suffers from some trite contrivances, but overall succeeds due to the abilities of its leads. Robert Pattinson cracks some smiles and comes out from under his considerable eyebrows that he spends several movies glowering from under, and seems to enjoy himself as an awkward young man trying to find his role in life. Christoph Waltz eats scenery raw, providing another electric supporting performance in what is sure to be a long list of them, as he establishes himself as a fine character actor.

During the depression a young vet joins a traveling circus, and promptly falls in love with the mercurial owner of the circus' wife. They fall in love of course, and it all ends happily. Hal Holbrook is very effective providing the bookends to the story, and Lawrence does a good job of avoiding most of the lame animal reaction shots that plague these type of movies.