My Film: 'Water for Elephants' 14-5-11

This colourful romantic melodrama gives the brooding Robert Pattinson a break from his customary vampire roles as that traditional figure, the Depression-era drifter, in this case a veterinary student who's had to drop out of college after his parents' deaths and finds himself working as a roustabout on a second-rate travelling circus. He's appointed resident vet and elephant handler by the menacingly bonhomous boss (the charismatic Christoph Waltz from Inglourious Basterds), who toys with him sadistically. He falls for the boss's young, dissatisfied wife (Reece Witherspoon), and there are echoes of such classic noir movies as The Postman Always Rings Twice and Gilda. No circus films ends without a spectacular scene in which the animals are let loose, the train crashes or the big top catches fire, and this one is not an exception.

It's not a bad film, but I can honestly say that the book is better than it. See it and be warned you may need a hankie or two.

My Star Rating:

8/10 *