Checking Out the movie WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

Hey, how come it is not WATER FOR ELEPHANT (singular). There is only one elephant in the movie. Answer: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is a quote the circus owner said when he would hire the young hero to give WATER TO THE ELEPHANTS – then he told the hero they didn’t own any elephants. But they did soon.

The movie is about a circus that is not making ends meet, directed by Francis Lawrence; staring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz, and others. The movie starts off with Hal Holbrook reminiscing about when he was young and foolish and joined the circus. If just joining the circus wasn’t young and foolish enough he was even more young and foolish by romancing the owner’s wife. The owner has a deadly cruel streak.

As I mentioned, the circus was running short on revenue and to cut costs the owner would have his two goons throw out selected disgruntled workers out from a fast moving train at night to a certain death. He also like to stick the elephant with a sharp object. We might overlook him having workers thrown off the train to lower his payroll but we movie watchers will not tolerate mistreating an innocent obedient elephant.

The movie takes place during the depression/prohibition days. There is action, a flow of the times, romance. And there is an illicit adultery affair (don’t let the above picture mislead you).

I felt the need to grip the arms of my seat during parts of the movie which meant I felt the tension going on. I think it was a good movie.