Water for Elephants is one of those big, extravagant-looking romances that you might automatically deem “conventional” — except for the fact that almost nobody makes big, extravagant-looking romances anymore. That’s the elephant in the room that the movie’s director, Francis Lawrence, faces head on. Whatever his movie’s flaws may be, he’s alive to the wonder of spectacle, and he still believes in the old-fashioned idea of movie stars: Those with two legs, and especially those with four.

Continue reading here:
REVIEW: Water for Elephants Stars One Very Big Heartthrob, with Wrinkled Skin