A sweeping period romance may seem an odd choice for Francis Lawrence, but stylistically it demonstrates the same level of subtlety as I Am Legend and Constantine, namely none whatsoever. In Water For Elephants, Lawrence doesn’t want to just pull on your heartstrings, he wants to rip them from your chest and play soaring violin music on them.
And he brings out the big guns early, casting the ever-magnificent Hal Holbrook as an ageing romantic, reminiscing about his one true love. When his parents are killed, Ivy League student Jacob (Robert Pattinson) escapes both this personal tragedy and the harsh realities of Prohibition America by literally running away with the circus. Hired by a volatile ringmaster (Christoph Waltz) to train his biggest attraction, an elephant named Rosie, Jacob not only falls for circus life but the boss’s showgirl wife (Reese Witherspoon.)
Pattinson and Witherspoon are both immensely affable, but never more than that. Even their most passionate moments feel terribly safe. Waltz, on the other hand, is brilliantly vicious and scenes of him abusing Rosie are horrifying. But because the lovers fail to show any real fear, the audience doesn’t feel it, and Waltz never seems like an actual threat to their relationship, merely a time-delay.
And that’s the problem with Water for Elephants. Like the elephant act itself, it’s quite beautiful, and there’s enough pleasant posturing and beguiling sets to keep you engaged. But its safety net of sentimentality is always clearly visible, and there’s rarely any real sense of tension or danger, merely the pretence of it. Even the more outrageous circus acts remain completely ignored. Though dwarves, Fat Ladies and caged lions all appear, none perform. There’s no room for ugliness when Witherspoon could be prettily posing atop a stationary, bejewelled elephant.
Still if it’s a beautiful, mannered romance you’re after, roll up roll up, as Ringmaster Lawrence is here to make your tamest dreams come true.