I read Sara Gruen's novel a few weeks before seeing this movie. I know it is generally always true that the book is better than the movie, but I had hoped that bringing the circus to life on the big screen would make the movie so spectacular that I would forget all about the book. No such luck.
Rob Pattinson basically plays Edward Cullen with a few changes...shorter hair, eyes are not gold and instead of feeding on animals, he takes care of them. I would also giggle every time someone called him "Jacob" in the movie. For all the members of "Team Jacob" out there, I am sure that must be pretty weird.
Reese Witherspoon is a beauty and did a pretty good job as "Marlena". I think the problem with this movie is there seemed to be very little chemistry between her and Pattinson. I read earlier in the week that Pattinson had a cold while filming their love scene and Reese was pretty grossed out by it. "He was literally snorting and snotting through every second of it--and it was not appealing. I'm talking green, infectious, disgusting -- I'm not kidding! ... I'm going to say it's a little bit of a downer. I was a little disappointed. It wasn't sexy."
I should not have read that before going to see the movie because all I could think about was green snot during their love scene. Thanks Reese!
Christopher Waltz is by far the best actor in the movie aside from the elephant. They decided to drop the "Uncle Al" character and make "August" the owner of the circus for the movie. I hated "August" in the book and I hated him even more in the movie. Waltz really was the perfect "August". Charming and handsome in one scene and a raging elephant beating lunatic in the next.
The movie got far more interesting when "Rosie" hit the screen. She is a sweet, funny and gentle giant. When August beats her it is horrible to watch and hear. It makes you want to rush on set, steal her and try to hide her in your garage to protect her from all things evil.
Overall the movie is ok. If you don't want to spend the money it takes to get into a movie, don't. Just wait for it on dvd. I give the movie a C+.
Robert Pattinson can't act.
ReplyDeleteI did not like the movie, either.
ReplyDeleteRobert Pattinson was just some grinning idiot, and Marlena made it seem as if all he was was her ticket out from Mr BiPolar land.
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT.
You're too generous with C+.