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Synopsis

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford. –IMDb

Director

Original

Francis Lawrence

Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1970 in Vienna) is an American music video, film, and television director and producer.

Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three. Lawrence worked as 2nd assistant camera on the feature Pump Up the Volume directed by Allan Moyle prior to earning his bachelors degree in film production at Loyola Marymount University Film School. He went on to work as first AD on the feature Marching out of Time directed by Anton Vassil in 1993. Francis Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Mike Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence shot his first music video for Michael Blakey President of Atco Records with the band Tidal Force which became a great success. Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style.

He eventually joined… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 45 wall posts.
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bluntfringe

9Apr13

Bit obsessed with the circus lately..

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Justin Oakey

19Mar13

With absolutely no desire to see this film upon release, with no knowledge of the book or even its story, I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful this was. The photography was great and the use of real animals was breath of fresh air - it almost made up for the wooden acting and lack of chemistry between the leads (Waltz wasn't in top form, but good nonetheless).

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eaimauricio

27Feb13

Always Christopher Waltz ♥

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Christopher Scott Zeidel

12Nov12

An old fashioned chick flick. The kind they don't make anymore. It is not a bad film, but I suppose it is a little too old fashioned for today's audiences. I'll take it over crap like Bridesmaids any day. Christoph Waltz as the abusive animal trainer and abusive and jealous husband is very good, but perhaps the drama goes a little overboard at times. Reese Witherspoon is always good.

eaimauricio likes this

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

"Incendies," "Beautiful Darling," "Stake Land," More

By David Hudson on April 22, 2011

"Denis Villeneuve's Incendies — an operatic saga of intergenerational woe — is the cinematic equivalent of a Harlem Globetrotters

read article

Lists

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Reviews

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Better then it should be

By MR. Univers​e on March 5, 2012

After his parents’ death, Jacob Jankoski is left penniless and homeless. Events lead him to joining the circus as their vet, working under their unstable boss August whose violent tendencies give everyone…  read review

The calm before the storm.

By Wilsonj​d2 on April 24, 2011

There is always a calm before the storm, and in this instance, the storm is the upcoming multitude of loud, 3-D, special effects filled summer blockbusters. The calm is a sweet and surprisingly entertaining…  read review

Forum

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New Wide Releases Films for the Week of April 22, 2009

13 posts by 4 people about 2 years ago