This is post 1 of 3 for tonight (I need to catch up and I feel super guilty for slacking so much lately).
Sara Gruen's novel "Water for Elephants" was one of my favorites from the many we've read in book club. (We read it before all the hype around it started, so that definitely helped, I think. Hype is the killer of good things.)
When I heard there was a movie adaptation coming, I had mixed feelings. They were 1. Yay! I love that book! It would be so awesome as a movie, and 2. Oh, God, I hope they don't fuck it up.
My hopes were not high when the primary three cast members were announced: Christoph Waltz as August, Reese Witherspoon as Marlena and Robert Pattinson as Jacob. The problem wasn't Christoph, who is a weirdo and needed to be for this role. Nor was it Robert, who I think is a decent actor and gets a bad rap because he's that vampire from that series a few people have heard of. Reese. Reese was the problem.
My exact first thought: She's too old for that part. Reese Witherspoon is, what... 34? 35? Whatever it is, it's NOT old. However, Marlena is supposed to be in her early 20s, which is part of the reason why her and August's relationship has such a chasm, and part of the reason why her and Jacob's relationship is so compatible. Reese cannot pull off early 20s. Sorry.
So, I went to the movie theater with really low expectations. I'm happy to say it was beautifully shot, Rosie (the elephant) is as adorable as you hope her to be, and the individual performances by Christoph, Robert and Reese were well done.
The problem, as I expected it to be, were the relationships between the characters. Christoph and Reese don't seem as wrong for each other as August and Marlena do in the book; and Robert and Reese don't seem as right for each other as Jacob and Marlena do in the book. What's the common denominator here? Reese.
They should've gone younger. Jennifer Lawrence has the exact right look (but no, she's hard at work as Katniss in "The Hunger Games" movie, another bit of casting I can't really get behind, but I'll reserve full judgement until I see the film.) Riley Keough would have worked, too. Candice Accola, even.
It boils down to this: Marlena is unhappy. She feels trapped. She honestly doesn't believe there's anything else in this life for her until Jacob shows up and suddenly there's a glimmer of the life she might be able to have. This is a dilemma a young woman, not a grown woman, would face. Young women sometimes need to be pointed in the right direction to escape their circumstances. Grown women have chosen to stay where they are. Marlena needs to be pointed. Reese chose to stay.
I really enjoyed the movie. I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also glad I paid matinee price.
Sara Gruen's novel "Water for Elephants" was one of my favorites from the many we've read in book club. (We read it before all the hype around it started, so that definitely helped, I think. Hype is the killer of good things.)
When I heard there was a movie adaptation coming, I had mixed feelings. They were 1. Yay! I love that book! It would be so awesome as a movie, and 2. Oh, God, I hope they don't fuck it up.
My hopes were not high when the primary three cast members were announced: Christoph Waltz as August, Reese Witherspoon as Marlena and Robert Pattinson as Jacob. The problem wasn't Christoph, who is a weirdo and needed to be for this role. Nor was it Robert, who I think is a decent actor and gets a bad rap because he's that vampire from that series a few people have heard of. Reese. Reese was the problem.
My exact first thought: She's too old for that part. Reese Witherspoon is, what... 34? 35? Whatever it is, it's NOT old. However, Marlena is supposed to be in her early 20s, which is part of the reason why her and August's relationship has such a chasm, and part of the reason why her and Jacob's relationship is so compatible. Reese cannot pull off early 20s. Sorry.
So, I went to the movie theater with really low expectations. I'm happy to say it was beautifully shot, Rosie (the elephant) is as adorable as you hope her to be, and the individual performances by Christoph, Robert and Reese were well done.
The problem, as I expected it to be, were the relationships between the characters. Christoph and Reese don't seem as wrong for each other as August and Marlena do in the book; and Robert and Reese don't seem as right for each other as Jacob and Marlena do in the book. What's the common denominator here? Reese.
They should've gone younger. Jennifer Lawrence has the exact right look (but no, she's hard at work as Katniss in "The Hunger Games" movie, another bit of casting I can't really get behind, but I'll reserve full judgement until I see the film.) Riley Keough would have worked, too. Candice Accola, even.
It boils down to this: Marlena is unhappy. She feels trapped. She honestly doesn't believe there's anything else in this life for her until Jacob shows up and suddenly there's a glimmer of the life she might be able to have. This is a dilemma a young woman, not a grown woman, would face. Young women sometimes need to be pointed in the right direction to escape their circumstances. Grown women have chosen to stay where they are. Marlena needs to be pointed. Reese chose to stay.
I really enjoyed the movie. I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also glad I paid matinee price.
No comments:
Post a Comment