Water for Elephants

PG-13

Released Apr 22, 2011

2 hr. 1 min.

Drama

Romance

List

60%

199 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Krister S

The storytelling is pretty linear and straight forward, and in 2 hours, the film looks to be needing a little "shine" - perhaps, it lacks interesting substories from supporting characters or a little visual feast since it's circus.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/17/23

Full Review

Team Crazy A

I didn't like the movie that much because when I was in jail I read the book. I told a guard about it and he's like yeah I saw a movie and I told him I didn't know there was a movie so now that I've gotten to see the movie I've noticed there was lots of parts that were skipped and some of them mashed together. Like take for instance yes he ran away in the book and he did that in the movie, he also got on to the train and met Camel blackie and the others, he did do the work, but Jacob didn't put down the horse in front of Marlena it also wasn't a pistol it was a gun a shotgun they had Marlena taken away from there for a minute. When they went to go and get the elephant it wasn't August that bought it it was someone else and I can't remember his name but he's the one that bought the elephant and he's the one that told August how much it cost the elephant also ran away at night not in the daylight. In the book Marlena and Jacob did go to a hotel however August was searching for Marlena and no one knew where she was except Jacob so they kind of sped up everything but in the end it was a okay movie not something I would watch again especially after reading the book.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/10/23

Full Review

Nicholas L

"The Notebook" at the Circus. Without the convincing romantic chemistry.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/25/23

Full Review

Jonathan L

It boils down to your opinion of the leads relationship, I felt there was chemistry- hence my rating. Everything else was perfect, the acting, cinematography, score- it's a beautiful film. Extra points in my book because it's a period piece. 100/100

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I really enjoyed this film! It would have scored half a star more from me if the main character was given the chance to get some revenge with his own hands. Rating - Good

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A spectacular film and a good adaptation of the book. The movie is beautifully shot, with such quality and attention to detail and the performances are wonderful. Robert Pattinson displays a wide array of emotions, showing his worth as a first class actor.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Francis Lawrence

Director

Reese Witherspoon

Marlena

Robert Pattinson

Jacob

Christoph Waltz

August

Paul Schneider

Charlie

Jim Norton

Camel

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Critics Consensus: Water for Elephants Is A Little Soapy

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: B

Feb 18, 2012

Full Review

Leah Rozen

TheWrap

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

Oct 7, 2011

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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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
Executive Producer: Kevin Halloran
Screenwriter: Richard LaGravenese, Sara Gruen
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 3 Arts Entertainment, Flashpoint, Gil Netter
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
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Datasat
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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