Water for Elephants

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Water for Elephants

PG-13

2011

2h 1m

Drama

Romance

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Popcornmeter

60%

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193 Reviews

70%

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50,000+ Ratings

Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary student, is close to graduating when a terrible tragedy forces him to leave school. With nowhere else to go, he hops on a passing train and finds it belongs to a traveling circus. Jacob takes a job as an animal caretaker and meets Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a beautiful circus performer. Their shared compassion for a special elephant named Rosie leads to love, but August (Christoph Waltz), Marlena's cruel husband, stands in their way.

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Critics Consensus

It's a tale tastefully told and beautifully filmed, but Water for Elephants suffers from a pronounced lack of chemistry between its leads.

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Leah Rozen

TheWrap

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

Oct 7, 2011

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Jim Schembri

The Age (Australia)

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.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jun 16, 2011

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David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

I think it's maybe the best circus movie since The Greatest Show on Earth.

Rated: 4/5

May 12, 2011

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

With a bit more style and realism, the film could have been something truly great; however, in this case, good is just good enough.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 31, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Withered and boorish. [Full review in Spanish]

Oct 11, 2022

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

In this film, LaGravenese squeezes the melodrama so well that you may feel like you just had your mouth washed out with soap.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 8, 2022

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Yvonne T

Unbearable stopped after 1h and would like that hour back. Flat uninspired bad acting boring and no chemistry. Turned off when elephant came into the picture hard to watch.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/09/25

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Audience Member

this movie is way rougher than i remember. period drama my ass. just an excuse and a side story to make a twilight movie at the end of the day, but this has elephants. Anyway poor dialogue, half of the concepts dont have any ground the other half dont cover any of the arcs started.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/17/25

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Dulce P

I love this movie. Robert is incredible so is Reese and Christophor. I loveeeeeeeeee the acting and the scenes. It is my favorite movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/25

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Jay C

Great movie, just watched it today for the first time, highly recommend.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/20/24

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Julian Rex M

It doesn't have as much on its mind as a film with this scope should and would've benefited from a lack of Reese Witherspoon's rote chemistry and uninteresting rendering of her character, but Water for Elephants' spectacular cinematography and masterful direction manage to mostly carry this film to a satisfying–if almost wholly forgettable–conclusion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/23/24

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Cfunk D

I find it to be an enjoyable movie. Reese Witherspoon doesn't play romantic role well. The message is great and entertaining movie. Love the circus and great depression mix. I never read the book so I won't give a low rating just because "the book was better" lol

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/06/24

Full Review

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Francis Lawrence

Director

Reese Witherspoon

Marlena

Robert Pattinson

Jacob

Christoph Waltz

August

Paul Schneider

Charlie

Jim Norton

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Synopsis

Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary student, is close to graduating when a terrible tragedy forces him to leave school. With nowhere else to go, he hops on a passing train and finds it belongs to a traveling circus. Jacob takes a job as an animal caretaker and meets Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a beautiful circus performer. Their shared compassion for a special elephant named Rosie leads to love, but August (Christoph Waltz), Marlena's cruel husband, stands in their way.

Director: Francis Lawrence
Producer: Gil Netter, Erwin Stoff, Andrew R. Tennenbaum
Screenwriter: Richard LaGravenese, Sara Gruen
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Flashpoint, Gil Netter, 3 Arts Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Content|Moments of Intense Violence)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $58.7M
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Datasat
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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