Water for Elephants

Deb 8 Me 8

As you know, I try to avoid too many mainstream movies. They’re cinema’s version of the best-seller list, which is the McDonald’s of literature. That is, appealing to the masses and not necessarily nutritious. Of course there are exceptions.

Water for Elephants is one of those books that has been read and enjoyed by every girl I know. Me going to see it is as inevitable as doing the laundry. But I heard it’s a circus movie and one of those hasn’t come to town in quite a while.

I liked it. It’s a good story and though you know certain things are inevitable from the start, the road to their resolution is interesting and entertaining. There’s a villain who is very credible, a nice guy hero who is a little flat and the heroine who is not flat at all. And then there’s the circus, a circus in the 30s, during the depression, which adds to the gala atmosphere. And the animals and their acts, the people and their escapades are all neat to see; the movie doesn’t dwell on them but provides us with a neat human-interest story set in a circus environment. It’s a neat story, a big story, and a story that would’ve made a great movie in the 30s or 40s and even makes for a good movie today. Speaking of the date, there was some confusion over the timeline presented in the film, dates would be better left out than inconsistent. The violence in the movie was handled very well, that is, it was left out, only implied. We saw the aftermath but didn’t have to watch it happen. I liked that very much, especially appropriate for a movie rated PG.

I didn’t read the book, but Deb did. She said the material they covered from the book was very well done, but they left about a third of the book out completely, only making slight suggestions about the things they edited out in the screenplay. But I didn’t miss any of it, ignorance is bliss. It was pretty tight, not too Hollywood (if that could apply to a circus movie) and I’m pleased to have spent my (senior) theater dollar on this one.