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.