No Tricks Here

CAST: Robert Pattinson,Reese Witherspoon,Christopher Waltz

Rating: **

It’s difficult to put a finger on what exactly is wrong with Water for Elephants. It’s also hard to say what is right. After all,how do you put in adorable animals next to — by all screaming teen accounts — an adorable Pattinson,in another love story with an unattainable woman,cast Christopher “Inglorious Basterds” Waltz as the unstable husband and cruel circus master and still end up with a film that so struggles to make you care.

The first problem is the many stories that Water for Elephants,based on a bestseller,is trying to tell. Between the outlines of a love story lies a wonderful tale about a circus struggling to make ends meet in the midst of the 1931 Depression. But these subjects turn out to be just a part of the ramblings of the forlorn Pattinson (forlorn he can indisputably be). So just when you are settling down to see how a travelling circus survives against the odds,enter owner August’s “beautiful” wife Marlena (Witherspoon).

The film desperately tries to portray Pattinson’s Jacob and Marlena as kindred spirits,united in love for animals and fear/ admiration for August,but with the chemistry between them being nil,that’s hard to buy. As Jacob pines — another thing Pattinson has mastered — and Marlena whimpers — as much as Witherspoon can — the largely ignored employees play along.

You also have a sneaking suspicion that August may be the only guy with an eye on the big picture here.

The elephant (who gives the film the title) is another story. Rosie almost saves the circus by being just what she is — a majestic creature,who can do tricks when asked. The one brief scene when Marlena climbs on Rosie’s back for the first time almost saves this film too. Till you realise it’s all water off the elephant’s back.