Reviews and Reactions of the ‘Water for Elephants’ Trailer

Enter­tain­ment Weekly:
Robert Pat­tin­son looks like a man in the adap­ta­tion of Sara Gruen’s best-seller Water for Ele­phants, act­ing oppo­site Oscar win­ners Reese With­er­spoon (the beau­ti­ful per­former his char­ac­ter, a vet­eri­nary stu­dent in charge of car­ing for a trav­el­ing cir­cus’ ani­mals, falls for dur­ing the Depres­sion) and Christoph Waltz (Witherspoon’s hus­band, the troupe’s ani­mal trainer). Direc­tor Fran­cis Lawrence seems to be chan­nel­ing Tim Bur­ton, and it works. The music lures you in, as does the always affect­ing Hal Hol­brook, who plays Pattinson’s aged char­ac­ter recall­ing the story of “the most famous cir­cus dis­as­ter of all time.” The finest com­pli­ment you can give a trailer for an adap­ta­tion is that it makes you want to read the book. This one does it for me.

Peo­ple Mag­a­zine:
For­get Bella! Robert Pat­tin­son woos Reese With­er­spoon in the new trailer for the film adap­ta­tion of Sara Gruen’s best­selling novel Water for Ele­phants, which is due in the­aters in April 2011. Pat­tin­son plays Jacob, a vet­eri­nary stu­dent who joins a trav­el­ing cir­cus dur­ing the Great Depres­sion. He falls for the show’s sul­try star Mar­lena (played by With­er­spoon), who’s involved with the Ring­leader, played by Christoph Waltz. “You’re a beau­ti­ful woman, you deserve a beau­ti­ful life,” Jacob tells Mar­lena, but the Ring­leader seems deter­mined to keep them apart. Sounds like a love tri­an­gle of Twi­light pro­por­tions!

MTV Movies Blog:
The trailer for “Water for Ele­phants” has stam­peded its way onto the Inter­net, giv­ing movie fans a beau­ti­fully shot look at the adap­ta­tion of Sara Gruen’s best­selling novel and its beau­ti­ful stars, Reese With­er­spoon and Robert Pat­tin­son. (…) Depression-era set­ting? Check! Love tri­an­gle with beau­ti­ful woman, over­bear­ing older lover and baby-faced younger suitor? Check! Cli­mac­tic dis­as­ter pro­vid­ing the back­drop for the res­o­lu­tion of all things? Big-time check!

Movieline:
It really is a lik­able trailer: The pro­duc­tion design and cin­e­matog­ra­phy look great, the actors look great; hell, even that ele­phant looks pretty sharp. And with Sara Gruen’s much-loved best seller as the source mate­r­ial, it ini­tially seems like an an unstop­pable package.

Wash­ing­ton Post:
‘Water for Ele­phants’ trailer: Great­est clip on Earth? A sneak peek at “Water for Ele­phants,” the film adap­ta­tion of Sara Gruen’s book club favorite about a Big Top love tri­an­gle and a major cir­cus dis­as­ter, is now online. And if the clip is any indi­ca­tion, the movie will at least look gorgeous. Featuring grand, hazy-with-nostalgia visu­als and shots of Reese With­er­spoon look­ing every inch the old movie star, it’s a feast for the eyes. Of course, a num­ber of peo­ple will think said feast is really all about Robert Pat­tin­son, who def­i­nitely comes across (appro­pri­ately) as less broody and Edward Cullen-ish here.

Wall Street Jour­nal:
Robert Pattinson’s non-”Twilight” resume gets another addi­tion with “Water For Ele­phants,” a film set in a Depression-era cir­cus and based on the best­selling novel by Sara Gruen. Pat­tin­son plays oppo­site cir­cus per­former Reese With­er­spoon, a cast­ing deci­sion that isn’t in the Oscar-winning actress’s favor, judg­ing by the trailer. Pat­tin­son is so baby-faced that he makes the still young and fetch­ing With­er­spoon look like she’s rob­bing the cra­dle. Oscar win­ner Christoph Waltz co-stars as Witherspoon’s unbal­anced hus­band August. The film will hit the­aters on April 15, 2011.
via PattinsonStew