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'Water for Elephants' not a three-ring circus
The film "Water for Elephants" opened Friday night at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in a gala showing as a benefit for the V&T railroad group at $15 per head. Reason is that old No. 18 of the V&T more or less stars in the movie. More on the benefit later.
As far as the movie goes, it's pretty much boy meets woman, falls for her, struggles with her husband and finally winds up with her. The story is told by an old circus hand Older Jacob (Hal Holbrook) who comes too late to a modern circus for the show but is taken in out of the rain by the owners of the circus. He is encouraged to tell of the old circus days when he was a circus veterinarian. From here it's flashback time.
We go back to when young Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattison, surprisingly inept except at getting beat up) is graduating from Cornell and finds that his parents were killed in an auto accident and that he has been left penniless. He hits the road without completing his graduating degree and accidentally joins the Benzini Brothers Circus. He works his way up to taking care of the animals, including Rosie, a veteran circus elephant. He also becomes involved with the circus owner and ring master August Rosenbluth (Christopher Waltz) and his wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon, snazzy in performer's costume with blonde hair a-spin, pointy chin as always).
Jacob spends a good part of his time being welcomed aboard the circus and then getting beaten up by circus folk for becoming involved with the boss' wife (Witherspoon). But thanks to an old circus hand who knows elephant talk, Jacob is able to protect Rosie and eventually Marlena as they walk off into the sunset after a disaster when fired employees disrupt the show, turn animals including Rosie loose and stamped everybody. August is crushed by Rosie in the riot.
Winds up with Older Jacob telling of how he and Marlena wed and stayed together along with Rosie and had five children. An old black and white 8mm-type movie is shown of Marlena and Rosie and Jacob (now the younger) enjoying life as he heads a zoo program.
Nothing really bad about the film, Pattison excepted. Witherspoon is blindly beautiful and even does some of her horse- and elephant-stunts herself. Waltz is the only real actor here. Holbrook is sufficiently hammy to get by. Direction is sloppy and some camera-work is not thought out (slices of faces for no good reason).
For the film, let's risk an C+ or B- and let it go at that.
As far as the V&T benefit gala itself, $15 got you a ticket to the film along with a self-laudatory lecture from a guy who arranged for old steam engine No. 18's role. You also could sample the casual buffet in the corridor between the Fandango and the Galaxy. But the lines were long long long for everything. Hope the train runs smoother than the benefit.
--- Sam Bauman
Cast
• Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth
• Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski
• Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth
• Tai as Rosie, the elephant
• James Frain as Rosie's caretaker
• Hal Holbrook as Older Jacob Jankowski
• Paul Schneider as Charlie O'Brien
• Ken Foree as Earl
• Tim Guinee as Diamond Joe
• Mark Povinelli as Kinko/Walter
• Scott MacDonald as Blackie
• Jim Norton as Camel
• Richard Brake as Grady
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Produced by Kevin Halloran
Gil Netter
Erwin Stoff
Andrew R. Tennenbaum
Written by Richard LaGravenese (Screenplay)
Sara Gruen (Novel)
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Rodrigo Prieto
Editing by Alan Edward Bell