Water For Elephants Blu-Ray Review

• 6th Sep 2011

R-Patz (did I say that right; R-Patz?) is back and this time he’s attempting a mature character piece a far cry away from the dead fish eye, un-dead, teen idol clap we’re used to from this beefcake of a Brit.  Water For Elephants promised to be grand, cosy, historical and magical, and follows the story of Polish born, first generation American Ivy League veterinary student Jacob Jankoski. The year is 1931, the age of prohibition and the high point of the Great Depression but for Jacob and his doting parents things have never been sweeter. Jacob’s on the cusp of becoming a fully qualified vet, his father’s business is doing well(ish) and at least they’ve all got their health.

Of course when Jacob’s parents die suddenly in a freak car accident [small sigh here] his world is turned upside down and following the path of so many young men, penniless, homeless and friendless, Jacob runs away to (accidentally) join the circus. Ah, the circus. Zippo’s on Clapham Common, eat your heart out. We’re talking grand spectacle on a never-before-seen-scale – ferocious lions being bated with chairs, women doing summersaults on galloping horses without a care in the world for health and safety and life on the open railroad. For Jacob, the circus is the American Dream and along with the hundred or so other drifters who have found their way into the warmth and comfort of the big top, the promise of a hot meal and a job.

The circus wouldn’t be the circus without its share of oversized characters (literally and otherwise) but in this instance it’s the men behind the scenes who present the most rounded and likable personalities. Jacob is instantly adopted by old man Camel, who seems to have seen everything and done it all and under his protective wing, Jacob is enrolled as a fully fledged shit shoveller. Everything’s coming up roses.

Of course, when he catches a glimpse of the mysterious, beautiful Marlena and her lame horse his luck takes a turn for the up when he is given the opportunity to show off both his veterinary skills (diagnosing it with a fatal disease) and his initiative and integrity through shooting it in the head against the wishes of August, the circus owner and husband and trainer of Benzini’s star attraction, Marlena.  As expected, Chriztopher Waltz’s stunning turn as the ringmaster August, outwardly confident and brazen but inwardly sociopathic (comes with the job, I guess)is most certainly the highlight of the film, with only the elephant’s offering of handstands and hat theft stealing the limelight for the briefest of moments.

It’s a good length of time into this two hour film that things finally get going and the elephant finally shows up. Rosie, a 53 year old beast of a matriarch is beautiful to watch on screen, perhaps even more so than Reese Witherspoon herself but her relevance is short lived. For a film called Water for Elephants we find as it progresses we see less and less of both (most notably the elephant) as it veers disappointly towards becoming a forgettable, second rate love story. Of course Jacob and Marlena are going to get it on, but it would be such a relief if just for once Hollywood produced a period film which focused on the period itself, rather than its Barbie and Ken stars. The issues of the age, dealt with moderately at the beginning, are all but forgotten by the end save for a prohibition-fuelled drink fest police raid, but even that only serves to plonk Marlena and Jacob in a romantically awkward situation. 

The film tails off predictably along the lines of “you stole my wife, I will have vengeance”/“you beat up my lover, I will have vengeance” and the delights and mysteries of the circus are all but forgotten by the time we flash forward to present day where old man Jacob, having told his story to a lackadaisical circus watchman, procures a job as a ticket-boy and runs off for the second time in his life to join the circus (no doubt touring via Clapham Common next bank holiday).   

Shamefully, the Blu-ray comes with a grand total of zero special features, which is a shame by any account but especially when you consider the documentaries they could have made about the real life circus and training all the animals and so on. Here’s looking to the ‘deluxe edition’…

Dani Singer