Read it 1st: Water for Elephants

A few days ago, I was perusing the titles outside the used bookshop in the Ville when suddenly I came upon the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I remembered that a looooooong time ago, D told me that he read that book and it was pretty good so I decided to buy it and read over the summer.

I started the novel last night and finished it earlier this evening. That good. Because I want you to read the book, I will summarize it thusly:

Jacob Jankowski was about to graduate from Cornell veterinary school and take over his father's practice when his parents are killed in a tragic car accident. Despondent, he runs away to join the circus. He falls in love. Shenanigans ensue.

Like I said, I finished the book really quickly and liked it immensely. Tonight, I wanted to watch the movie to see how it matched up. I kind of remember seeing the trailers for the movie and knew that the two main characters were played by Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. When I recalled this fact earlier tonight, I was skeptical of how the movie would be.

On the whole, I think that the movie functioned pretty well; the storyline was more developed in some areas and less developed in other for the sake of time. That's usually how it goes with movie adaptations of books. The visuals were stunning and I think that the plot flowed pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised by the actor who portrays the ringmaster and Reese Witherspoon(though she probably wouldn't have been my first choice for Marlena) was quite convincing in being in love with R-Patz(who, by the way is about 10 years younger than her). So overall, I guess the movie gets a B+ for adapting to the book.

HOWEVER.

"I'm still Edward freaking Cullen."

I have one thing that I would like to ask: why Robert Pattinson for the lead??? I really was trying to keep an open mind about his acting because I don't think that actors should always be thought of as the first role they make it big as. ..But he did the same thing that he's done with most of his other roles. Namely, playing the brooding hero who is kind of out of it for most of the time. True, he has a little bit more spice in this film than in the Twilight saga but that's just because that's the character, not anything he as an actor did. The character of Jacob has lost everything and is swept away by this glitzy world...but Pattinson's acting felt underwhelming to me. 

WHY DIDN'T HE GET THE PART.

Furthermore, when I was picture Jacob in my head, I pictured him being a little bit more wiry and awkward. Especially since we can read some of his inner monologues and it seems like he's quite torn about...well, everything in his life. Robert Pattinson is usually staring (thoughtfully?) into the distance, into his lover's eyes, at the animals. He seems...a little too suave for the role. 

So there you have it: Movie was pretty good...but didn't blow me away.

(On a side note: Reese says R-Patz is a bad kisser. Sucks to suck)

What shall I read next? If nothing else is suggested, Gatsby is up at bat.