Water for Elephants

Jacob Jankowski's (Robert Pattinson) life turned from everything good to everything bad with the car crash that killed his parents. After Jacob hears the news, he drops out of school and leaves his town after realizing that his father had nothing, not even their house, to leave him. And did I mention that this is happening during the Great Depression? Things look quite bad for Jacob, that is until he decides to hop a train, a circus train he soon finds out. The men in the train car decide to help him find a job when they arrive in town the next day and when the day is up, they will get him a meeting with the boss, August Rosenbluth (Christoph Waltz).
When Jacob tells August that he has a veterinarians degree, August gives him the job of caring for the circus's new star act...an elephant named Rosie. But while taking care of Rosie, Jacob meets and begins to fall in love with the beautiful Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), the wife of August. The rest of "Water for Elephants" tracks Jacob and Marlena's story of love, suspense, and vengeance as they long to reach a better life.
Hooray! Robert Pattinson is not a stiff, awkward mess like he is in those cheesy vampire movies anymore. He is actually acting well in "Water for Elephants." He is fluent, he is emotional, he is tan (but that's besides the point), and he has achieved his best acting since those ten minutes back in "Harry Potter 4." The other standout actor is without a doubt Christoph Waltz. Ever since his role in "Inglorious Basterds" (for which he won an Academy Award) he has become one of my favorite actors and I wait in eager anticipation for him to portray more characters like August. Waltz is a master of portraying cunning "bad guys" who slowly draw out information from others and he made me stay on the edge of my seat during one particular major scene in the film (which I will not discuss due to spoiling the story). As for Reese Witherspoon, there is not much to say. She is a great actress and she preformed her role well, she just does not stand out as much as the other two leads.
The problem with "Water for Elephants" is that the story comes off as a little unbelievable. In the film, Jacob and Marlena barely have any time together before they start loving each other. While, I'm sure this romantic build-up was most likely better set up in the novel on which the movie is based, the film makers could have done a much better job of adding in more scenes that allow for the audience to see the relationship grow instead of it just blossoming overnight.
While "Water for Elephants" may be a little weak in some areas of the storytelling, it is still a very enjoyable film that certainly surprised me with its quality. The actors lead it with power, the suspense grips you, and the romance will touch you. "Water for Elephants" is a film worth seeing. I give it three stars out of four.
"Water for Elephants" has a running time of two hours and is rated PG-13 for moments of intense violence and sexual content.

Arthur

Arthur Bach (Russel Brand) has everything that he could possibly want. He has a seemingly unlimited supply of money, he is able to do whatever he wants wherever he wants, and he even has his own nanny (played by Helen Mirren) who takes care of his every need. Life could not possibly seem to be bad for Arthur. But Arthur does not seem to care much about his public image and frequently goes out drunk throughout New York on many nights and usually ends up on the front page of the newspaper. His mother (Geraldine James) is fed up with her son (especially because his bad choices put the company's image in jeopardy) and when she meets with Arthur she tells him that unless he marries a worker in the family company, Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner), he will be cut off from the family fortune. The only thing is that Arthur does not like Susan...at all. But if it means keeping his money, Arthur will do anything. That is until he begins to fall in love with a girl named Naomi (Greta Gerwig). With a little help from his nanny, Hobson, Arthur must decide what is more important to him: his love for money, or his love for Naomi. Now I never saw the original "Arthur" back in 1981 and maybe that's why I enjoyed this film much more than people who did see it so no, there will be no comparing/contrasting in the review. When I saw the trailers for "Arthur," I presumed that it was supposed to be a comedy. When I saw the film, although I did laugh several times, it wasn't as amusing as a decent comedy should be. However, I wasn't really upset at this because the film's story was more important to me than the laughs. While the plot of "Arthur" was nothing original and pretty predictable, it is still quite entertaining and charming. It kept me interested, it kept me from being bored, and it kept me caring about the characters. "Arthur" is also backed up by the great duo of Russel Brand and Helen Mirren. Brand is actually a really good actor who has experience in being hilarious thus he did not disappoint. On the other side, Helen Mirren was my favorite actress in the film with her deadpan humor and charm which turned her character into a more strict, sarcastic Marry Poppins. Together the two actors have good and humorous chemistry on screen and the two contribute the most in making the film what it is. "Arthur" may not be better than the original, or maybe it is (I may never know). But, it does have a few laughable moments, charming characters, and a lovable story. I give it two and a half stars out of four. "Arthur" has a running time of 110 minutes and is rated PG-13 for alcohol use throughout, sexual content, language and some drug references.

Source Code

How would you like to be blown up every ten minutes or so nonstop? Sound painful? Well that's what Captain Colter Stevens has to go through in the new action/thriller "Source Code." He is also hit, tazed, and shot all in the confines of a train in which he must find a bomb and its owner before he, along with all those on board, are killed...again. Confused? Let me explain... Actor Jake Gyllenhaal portrays Captain Stevens who wakes up on a train not knowing where he is. His last memory is of his last mission in which he flew a helicopter through enemy fire in Afghanistan. Stevens is now being talked to by a woman whom he doesn't know named Christina (Michelle Monaghan) and things get even weirder when he sees his reflection and sees a face that is not his own. Frightened and confused, Stevens tries to piece together what has happened to him but before he has much time, a bomb goes off and he wakes up in his crashed helicopter. He is then greeted via computer screen by Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who tells him that he is currently involved in a project titled Source Code. In this program, a person can relive the last eight minutes of another person's life. In this case, Captain Stevens is tasked with reliving the last eight minutes of school teacher Sean Fentress's life. In these eight minutes, Stevens must find a bomb on the train and find the bomber so that in the present time, the government can find the bomber before he strikes another target. Stevens must keep reliving the final eight minutes of Fentress's life until he can complete his assignment. First off, let me go ahead and say that "Source Code" is without a doubt the best film I have seen this year (even though there has not been much competition). This is only the second film I have seen this year that has a good script. There was nothing cheesy or outlandish about the dialogue and their are no over-the-top elements with the story. The story kept me entertained and wanting more. There were no slow periods because everything was non-stop thanks to the good pacing. And even better, the ending tries to mess with your head, making you question what you think happened, an ending of which I am a big fan of (Inception). But by far, the most important thing about "Source Code" is that it was able to reach me emotionally. This film made me hope that the characters succeed and that the bad guys were caught. It made me like the characters and care about what happens to them. The movie made me truly care about the story and that is something that no other film has done this year and something that films in general fail to accomplish. "Source Code" connects the audience to the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor and he carries "Source Code" from beginning to end with his acting. His performance, plus a fast-paced story, plus a good script, plus emotion equal 2011's first, best film. I give it three and a half stars out of four. "Source Code" has a running time of 94 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some violence including disturbing images, and for language.