When Christoph Waltz attacks the elephant, I could have killed him then and there. Actually, I think also the elephant would have fought back and trampled him. And, as we all know, elephants have great memories, so the next time he saw Woltz he would have gone berserk. You can tell that I'm taking Richard LaGravenese's screenplay (adapted from Sara Gruen's novel) rather seriously, but then I am an elephant nut. Anyway, the elephant, played by Tai, does get her own back in the end, so that's OK. She was 43 at the time, not her only feature film by any means.
It's the Depression, and this ain't no cosy circus flick, especially with the owner throwing unwanted workers out of moving trains all over the place, and one of the labourers paralysing himself with booze that isn't booze. And in the middle, not quite qualified vet Robert Pattinson is falling for the circus owner's ex-foster home wife Reece Witherspoon. All this is told by the now older vet Hal Holbrook to modern day circus man Paul Schneider, who provide a rather pleasing ending (which knowing him may well have been LaGravenese's invention).
Glossily filmed by Rodrigo Prieto, score by James Newton Howard, editing Alan Edward Bell, production design Jack Fisk.
Um, I dunno. It had been 13 years since we last watched it, when my only comment was 'James Newton Howard's music sounds like it's from a million other Hollywood films'. I'd watch both Reece and Waltz in anything - not sure about Pattinson. I don't really get the title either. 'Whisky for the Elephant' maybe?
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