Water for Elephants Reviews

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

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

I love it when a film surprises me.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

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

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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

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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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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

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This is sweet, but it's pure candyfloss.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

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

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: B

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

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

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5