Water for Elephants

Play trailer

Water for Elephants

PG-13

Released Apr 22, 2011

2h 1m

Drama

Romance

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

196 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

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.

Read Critics Reviews

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

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

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

Read all reviews

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Jay C

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/20/24

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Francis Lawrence

Director

Reese Witherspoon

Marlena

Robert Pattinson

Jacob

Christoph Waltz

August

Paul Schneider

Charlie

Jim Norton

Camel

Remember Me

26%

69%

Remember Me

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Remember Me

The Lucky One

20%

67%

The Lucky One

Watchlist

Labor Day

34%

54%

Labor Day

Watchlist

Like Crazy

71%

62%

Like Crazy

Watchlist

Tyler Perry's Good Deeds

37%

76%

Tyler Perry's Good Deeds

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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)

Most Popular at Home Now