Two Oscar winners and an Oscar nominee round out the cast for a film I have never even heard about until today called Water for Elephants, a movie about a vet student who drops out of school to join a circus, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Sara Gruen. Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson plays the lead, which fails to raise my eyebrows, but he is surrounded by some very celebrated actors such as Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Hal Holbrook, Paul Schneider, and James Frain. Francis Lawrence, who directed the likes of I Am Legend and Constantine, directs from a screenplay by Hollywood veteran Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King, The Bridges of Madison County).
I’m not sure what to make of the trailer (besides the awesome use of The Assassination of Jesse James score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) – it shows promise with its interesting setting and established actors and it sure does look pretty, but will it be drug down by a bland lead and a trite love triangle? Or will Pattinson surprise some and be able to hold his own amongst a story that hooks you with a flashbacks leading up to the “most famous circus disaster of all time?”
Take a look and leave your thoughts below.
Like with the teaser, I’m rather intrigued, Waltz could make it fun, this full trailer is very Troni (term which means, chessy and cool at same time) Francis Lawrence has made two films, I won I saw was extermly portenteous for a big budget film, I Am Legend (the worst adaptation of the book of the same name) Though apparenlty the guys wants to make real dramas (linked with adaptation of Chuck P’s Survivor) maybe this will turn out like McG’s first forray into something creative, a visionary mess.
Looks surprisingly good. Could take or leave RP, (good in Let It Be, bad in Little Ashes, don’t care about his life or franchise stuff)
I didn’t care for I AM LEGEND but I’m a big fan of CONSTANTINE (I’m sure the Keanu factor has nothing to do with that).
This looks better than I expected though I’m much more curious to see the trailer to BEL AMI. No doubt, I’ll see it.
Not a huge Patinson or Witherspoon fan, but the premise is intriguing and I’m definitely interested in seeing more of Waltz
So I’m not much of a Pattinson fan – even beyond the Twilight crap, I simply can’t get on board with anything he’s done (including his Oscar presentation scowling). And, this trailer gives off a vibe of just trying a little bit too hard to be… something that it’s not; which makes it exactly what it is (copyright Yogi Berra). That said, I see some Hal Holbrook in here. I see some Paul Schneider, I see some Reese Witherspoon, some Christoph Waltz and even Kevin Arnold’s dad. Plus, though I’ve not actually read the book, I’ve heard it’s quite good. And there’s a circus.