'Water for Elephants'review: Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson lack chemistry, but worth watching

WithRobert Pattinson,Reese Witherspoon. Romantic drama about a runaway who finds love in a 1930s circus. Director:Francis Lawrence(2:02). PG-13: Violence, language, sexuality. At area theaters.

Worth the price of admission but lacking in high-flying feats,"Water for Elephants"is a solemnly faithful rendering ofSara Gruen's book-club favorite. Director Francis Lawrence and writerRichard LaGravenesereplicate just enough of the novel's fantasy to keep audiences involved, even if the results hardly add up to the most spectacular show at the cineplex.

The primary drawback is the lack of chemistry between the leads, Reese Witherspoon and"Twilight's"Robert Pattinson. Pattinson plays Jacob, a veterinary student who hits the rails in 1931 after a family tragedy. He happens to hop a traveling circus train and is instantly enamored of the star act: Marlena (Witherspoon) and her dancing ponies. So far, so blah.

But into this ordinary world leaps an electrifying ringleader:Christoph Waltz. As the circus owner— and Marlena's husband — his August is a desperate brute, whose smooth exterior barely hides a jealous sociopath. Impressed byJacob's Ivy Leagueeducation, he hires the young stowaway to train the animals. When Jacob and the beautiful Marlena start working closely together on a new elephant act, however, his suspicions are (rightly) aroused.

Pattinson is such a passive actor that he needs a strong partner to reflect some depth into his brooding beauty. Witherspoon, stiff and withholding, isn't it. She seems as lost as he does, and Waltz's confident, exaggerated showmanship makes them both look like hesitant kids.

Fortunately, there's enough going on at the edges to distract us from the main event. Lawrence takes great care to convey the 1930s feel, and does capture some of the book's poignant vision of a tattered era.

In addition to Waltz— anOscar winnerfor"Inglourious Basterds"— several supporting actors make a memorable impact. The most notable isHal Holbrookas the aged Jacob, who remembers the story in flashback.
In just a few minutes, he locates the romance that once inspired dreamers to run away with the circus. Depending on how your day is going, he might even convince you to consider it, too.

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