Pattinson sparkles in 'Water for Elephants'

I've heard people say that every kid wants to run away and join the circus.  Well, I don't speak for every kid, but I know that I for one never even thought of running away to join the circus.  My family is enough of a circus as it is, minus the animals. 

However, when you've got nowhere to go with no family, no money, and no house, the circus starts to look pretty good.  This is the situation Robert Pattinson's character Jacob Jankowski in "Water for Elephants" finds himself in after a car crash takes the lives of his parents.  He finds that his parents gave everything they owned to the bank to send Jacob to study veterinary science at Cornell and he is left with nothing, so he packs a bag and starts heading for Destination: Unknown. 

Robert Pattinson's acting surprised me in this movie.  I went in with the predisposition that the movie was going to be terrible, because his reprising role as the translucent bloodsucker Edward Cullen was less than appealing to me, but the fact that he had a complexion and didn't always look so pained kept you from comparing the two roles.  He and Reese Witherspoon oozed chemistry and half the movie was spent illuminating their sexual tension with longing glances and liquored up slow dancing.  However, Witherspoon was not the only character that Pattinson had chemistry with.  Tai, the elephant who played Rosie, is seen constantly flirting with Jankowski the entire film.

The story progresses as Jacob finds himself jumping a train with the hopes of getting nowhere faster, only to find himself in a hairy situation when he realizes that he's not alone in the car.  He learns that he has jumped onto the Benzini Bros. Greatest Show on Earth.

Jacob talks the circus workers into allowing him to sleep the night on the train and allow him to work for them in return the next day.  What he doesn't realize is that circus work is no walk in the park, and spends his day shoveling manure out of the menagerie tent, where he meets the star of the show, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), who also happens to be the wife of the ringmaster.  After proving himself a hard worker, his caretaker, Camel (Jim Norton) decides to introduce him to August (Christoph Waltz), the ringmaster, in hopes of hiring him on as a worker for the circus.

August is a cruel and conflicted man, abusive and ruthless.  He is the opposite of Jacob.  Times are hard for everyone and it was difficult for a circus to survive in this Depression Era film, resorting to even tossing workers from the train in the middle of the night because of the inability to pay their salaries. Rosie the elephant is purchased in hopes that the new act will breathe life into the circus and August, in his desperation, mistreats her expecting her to perform immediately.  Caring for and training with the elephant draws Jacob and Marlena closer together, causing them to finally break free from August's wrath and begin life anew on their own.

If you're looking for a feel good film, this may not be the film to go to.  While this film does end on a happy note, the majority of the film can leave a bad taste in your mouth.  The reality of the circus is a tad depressing, especially during the 30s when no one could find work and the circus business was dying.  However, the movie is a heartwarming tale that will at least leave you with the desire to go out and buy an elephant.