Water for Elephants (2011)

All Critics (189) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (114) | Rotten (74) | DVD (3)

Supporting characters are too hastily sketched in, serving only to further the unsmooth course of true love.

October 7, 2011 Full Review

Leah Rozen

The Wrap

Top Critic

Water for Elephants may not be the best show on earth, but it's still quite a show.

May 6, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

Christine Champ

Film.com

Top Critic

'Water for Elephants' has charm, and this more grown up role suits Pattinson more than the histrionics of last year's 'Remember Me'.

May 3, 2011 Full Review

Dave Calhoun

Time Out

Top Critic

The movie rather embarrassingly sells chastity in the midst of what feels like a lawless situation. It's handsomely mounted but timid.

May 2, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

David Denby

New Yorker

Top Critic

The great intangible of chemistry isn't present, making Water for Elephants seem longer and slower than one might hope.

April 23, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

Isn't it OK, once in a while, just to enjoy the spectacle of two beautiful people kissing in a train car in the shadow of an elephant?

April 22, 2011 Full Review | Comments (7)

Dana Stevens

Slate

Top Critic

The leads lack chemistry and the movie has a very cookie-cutter love story that was far too predictable.

April 21, 2013 Full Review

Amy Curtis

We Got This Covered

Whatever romance Gruen summoned forth from this rough and tumble world of show people living by their own laws in a traveling, self-contained world of poverty and cruelty, director Francis Lawrence has hacked and ground it off.

January 11, 2013 Full Review

Roger Moore

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

"Water for Elephants" is a surprisingly good film that once again shows that first impressions aren't everything.

September 20, 2012 Full Review

Jeff Beck

Examiner.com

Effectively hits the right emotional beats with crucially the right amount of restraint.

January 30, 2012 Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

I love it when a film surprises me.

December 29, 2011 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

The film is certainly striking to look at but the story is hackneyed with too much exposition

December 13, 2011 Full Review

Laurence Boyce

The Baltic Times

It plays like a book with half of its pages ripped out. It moves quickly enough, but it's never convincing and the actors never get much to chew on. The end result isn't really a 'whirlwind' romance; it's more like a tumbleweed.

November 16, 2011 Full Review

Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

The real appeal of this movie is the epic backdrop of the 1930s-era train circus. This is where the special effects and costuming budget went.

November 13, 2011 Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Pattinson and Witherspoon may be the movie's heart, but Christoph Waltz provides the hydropower that drives Water For Elephants to its explosive, destructive conclusion.

September 9, 2011 Full Review

Neil Pond

American Profile

All the eye candy of the circus, along with one-dimensional characters and an unfulfilling storyline.

August 15, 2011 Full Review

Sarah Sluis

Film Journal International

This is sweet, but it's pure candyfloss.

July 14, 2011 Full Review

Stella Papamichael

Digital Spy

There's no doubting the luscious detail and feel for the period, but the love triangle that inevitable kicks in is a little too rote, even for those in a forgiving mood.

June 16, 2011 Full Review

Jim Schembri

The Age (Australia)

It's a gorgeous film to look at, but far too cliched and limitedly-acted to be much better than average.

June 9, 2011 Full Review

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

This is the kind of old-fashioned sweeping romance that would have played the bottom half of a double-bill in the 1940.

June 3, 2011 Full Review

Grae Drake

Movies.com

Makes a case as a worthy adaptation of a good novel but the jury is still out on whether Mr. Pattinson can be more than a brooding vampire.

May 31, 2011 Full Review

Bruce Bennett

Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Water for Elephants has a distinctly daytime movie feel to it, shot in soft, golden tones with an unchallenging plot.

May 19, 2011 Full Review | Comments (2)

Tim Martain

The Mercury

It's a fast-paced adventure tale like they used to make 'em, a slice of old-fashioned Hollywood that traverses tragedy, romance and exotic travel.

May 16, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rebecca Barry

Flicks.co.nz

Circuses have thankfully changed a lot since 1931 (when this is predominantly set) but it's a fascinating time and place to visit and a lot of the appeal of Water For Elephants comes from its setting.

May 14, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

Matt Neal

The Standard

There isn't really enough here to propel the story and hold your attention for two hours.

May 12, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

Dan Gear

Moviedex

• 1. August: The world runs on tricks, everyone plays but it's having a true talent, a gift born within something no degree can give you, you have such talent.
  – Submitted by Cathy D (14 months ago)
• 1. Charlie: We'll have you in the record books. Oldest man to run away to the circus.
  2. Old Jacob: I'm not running away...I'm coming home.
  – Submitted by Jillian L (17 months ago)
• 1. Marlena: Where were you when I was seventeen?
  – Submitted by Rocío R (19 months ago)
• 1. Jacob: I'm not runnin' away. I'm comin' home.
  – Submitted by Alyssa B (19 months ago)
• 1. Old Jacob: I'm not running away, I'm coming home.
  – Submitted by Cathy R (2 years ago)
• 1. Diamond Joe: It's your tent. And your lady. But MY Pinochole.
  – Submitted by Pushtab. N (2 years ago)

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