WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

Written by Richard LaGravenese

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz

 Based on the popular and much loved novel by Sara Gruen, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, as adapted by Richard LaGravenese, the writer responsible for romantic weepers like P.S. I LOVE YOU and THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, tells the tale of a young man (Robert Pattinson) who is lost to the world and found by the circus. The action under the big top is bustling with trapeze acts, wild animals and, much to my dismay, plenty of exaggerated, over the top performances that make this show a far cry from the greatest on Earth.

Francis Lawrence, the director of I AM LEGEND, works hard to dazzle the crowds but this is not an easy task when you have all the wrong acts on your roster. The unfortunate thing about Pattinson starring vehicles is that they draw far too much attention to how hollow a performer he is. It doesn’t help matters that his very talented co-stars, Academy Award winners, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz are entirely miscast as the husband and wife team behind the circus. The looks on their faces suggest they would rather be anywhere else and it wasn’t long before I was feeling the same way.

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HOW DO YOU KNOW

Written and Directed by James L. Brooks

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson

Psychiatrist: Figure out what you want and how to ask for it.

Lisa: Those are both really hard.

Silly me. I assumed that HOW DO YOU KNOW, the new film by Academy Award winning director, James L. Brooks, was asking an age old question about how you know when you’re actually in love. I did not realize that what it could also be asking is how do you know when you’re watching a bad movie. For me, I knew when I was about half way through this muddled mess of a romantic comedy and still had no idea what the story actually was. Everything looked so pretty that I hadn't noticed that Brooks had yet to make any effort to answer the question himself.

Reese Witherspoon returns to the big screen for the first time in two years in what certainly must have looked like a good project on paper. Everyone wants to know how you know you’re in love, including her character, Lisa, an Olympic softball player whose career has just stalled and whose interest in finding love seems to have stalled long before that. She is going through the motions with her casual boyfriend, Matty (Owen Wilson) but the clueless twosome actually think they are breaking new relationship ground every time he makes some space for her in his sock drawer. Meanwhile, Paul Rudd’s George is going through a crisis of his own but he knows without a doubt that Lisa is the girl for him. Naturally, we know as well too so we just have to sit around and wait for Lisa to get on the same page as everyone else.

If George can figure the whole love thing out, it stands to reason that anyone can, but Lisa and Matty exist on this plain where apparently love is a convoluted concept, that is as hard to understand as Jack Nicholson’s decision to appear in this farce. Love needn’t be so complicated but at least one thing is clear in this film – Brooks doesn’t know how you know anymore than anyone else does.

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