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I’ve never been one for the circus.  Never wanted to run off and join one, never had an interest to pony up when one gets to town (except for the big cats, ‘cause they’re awesome).  And don’t even get me started on clowns.  Can we all agree they’re creepy?  My favorite circus is Todd Browning’s Freaks, but that isn’t exactly the common, family-frienly archetype.  But Water for Elephants caught my eye at the first teaser trailer.  Reese Witherspoon’s sparkly outfits, and her seemingly BFF relationship with a pretty darn big pachyderm piqued my interest.  Add the obvious charms of Yeah-But-He’ll-Always-Be-Cedric-Diggory-To-Me Robert Pattinson, and I figured I couldn’t lose.  Well, I was right.

Not that I should be surprised.  Water for Elephants is based on Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel, a darling of the book-club set.  The story about a man named Jacob who joins a traveling circus after heartbreaking tragedy and falls in love, sounds like just so much cranked out Harlequin Romance hokum.  But the in-depth look at the lives of circus folk in the 30’s, along with powerhouse performances, keep this movie from being another Hollywood throwaway.  In fact, this movie hits all the marks.  From Jacqueline West’s gorgeous and gritty costuming and Jack Fisk’s production design (a special shout-out to Jim Erickson for nailing the Depression-era set design) to the musical score that adds to the story but doesn’t overwhelm and the cinematography that captures the Dust Bowl in it’s sadness and elegance, there’s not much this movie doesn’t deliver.  Fine, it doesn’t deliver pizza.

Getting past the visual treats and back to the stars of the show, Reese Witherspoon plays Marlena, the object of Jacob’s affection, and the star attraction of the circus.  Marlena is married to August, a brutal man that is not only violently jealous, he’s just violent, period.  Never above simply “redlighting” a few employees out the open doors of a moving train (hey, expenses need to be trimmed somehow), his obsessive adoration of Marlena is a ticking time bomb that only needed Jacob’s appearance to set off.  As August, Christoph Waltz does what I’d always thought would be inconceivable; he brings pathos to an unrepentant abuser.  Not throughout the movie — there is plenty to hate about August — but there was just enough there to have me stop and if not empathize, at least understand where his behavior was coming from.  The scenes between Marlena and August had me drawing parallels to Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf’s marital dysfunction.  Marlena is afraid but can’t seem to stop herself from trying to save a man who is already long past redemption.  And August clings to Marlena because he sees her as the encapsulation of everything he is or could be.  And poor Jacob walks in to the thick of it, adding fuel to the fire that was already burning long before he arrived.

And here’s the skinny on RPattz.  Not being a big Twilight fan myself (great mythology, horrid writing, could do without the glitter), I never once thought of his sparkle-powered vamp during this movie.  Maybe because it looks like on this shoot he was actually allowed to eat a sandwich every now and then.  (Seriously, he’s spooky-bad thin in those Twilight movies.)  Robert Pattinson excels at bringing Jacob to life.  I’m not going to insult your intelligence and say that he’s on par with Reese and Christoph.  He’s not.  However, with his performance as Jacob I can see the high-caliber actor he’ll be after a few more films like these.  Jacob has his highs and lows, but there’s no show-stopping scene that would make moviegoers amaze at his skill.  And that’s not all on him; his Jacob is an Everyman, and he’s here to to help the audience feel like there in it with him.  The story is told from his point of view, so a big diva scene ain’t an option.  When I say it’s from his point of view, many times that’s literal; the over-Jacob’s-shoulder camerawork was used so often that I became a bit too familiar with the freckle on the back of Robert Pattinson’s neck.  In fact, there’s a whole lot of close-up and extreme close-up shots.  Usually they just heighten the gorgeous feeling of 30’s fashion, by way of Reese’s perfectly coiffed hair and stunning jewelry, but during the more intimate scenes I would have liked to have seen more than a cheek, eyeball and chin.  Oh, stop; I’m not talking nekkid, just put a bit more chemistry between the two on screen.

Water For Elephants’ bread & circus isn’t a family friendly affair, for all the beauty and joy their circus brings.  The life of a circus worker isn’t exactly all-ages, and there are plenty of scenes where adults act like…well, adults.  Plus, August’s behavior is often horrifying in his brutality.  Two scenes in particular had me gasping and wondering if PETA would pop an aneurysm.  (This movie does make the case for ending circuses use of wild animals in their shows, or at least ending the many forms of cruelty that had been an unfortunate way of life for way too long.)  Speaking of animals, I defy anyone to walk out of the movie theater after this film and not have a serious animal-crush on Rosie the elephant.  She steals every scene she’s in, not because of her size, but because her connection to Marlena and Jacob is adorable.

What’s surprising is the release of this movie in early Spring, usually an elephant’s graveyard of movies production houses want to be rid of as quietly as possible without going straight to Redbox.  Maybe that’s my own bias; the “Summer Blockbuster Season” used to start around the Fourth of July, but it’s been creeping up a bit little by little, and now it’s pushing to start before Memorial Day weekend.  So perhaps this quiet time, before the bluster and bombast of the big budget popcornfests, is the perfect time for a well-acted dramatic piece.  Water for Elephants?  Thanks for letting me love the circus.