Preview: Water for Elephants (2011)

Synopsis:

An aging circus veteran reminisces about the most memorable circus disasters in history and how he and love were a part of it.

• Poster: C+

Review:

Depsite being a wonderfully colored poster, the artificiality is glaring. The grass upon which the elephant stand looks like the type of turf you'd put on a model train landscape. The leering Christoph Waltz isn't the oppressive figure he needs to be. Trying to put the film's themes on a poster is challenging. There was no palpable success in this effort.

• Trailer: B+; C+

Review:

It's not maudlin or excessive. It has a simple elegance that suggests a movie that will either live or die on the script which cannot be adequately judged in the trailer.

Whereas the first trailer painted a gentle picture of a period drama that might be engaging, the second trailer wipes away most of that potential. Christoph Waltz seems to be hacking away at his role while Reese Witherspoon looks a touch vapid. The whole production looks like an attempt to draw young audiences to the theater for a spectacle like we haven't seen in decades.

Oscar Prospects:

A lot depends on how it performs with critics and the box office. It's a period film releasing earlier in the year, which doesn't bode well for its Oscar prospects, but it could depending on how good it is.

Release Date:

• April 15, 2011

Full Review Synopsis:

I have not seen this film.

-Wesley Lovell (December 16, 2010) Original

-Wesley Lovell (April 17, 2011) New Trailer; New Poster