I had mixed feelings going into the movie, Water for Elephants. I read the book by Sara Gruen on a long flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago. I finished it over the eight hour flight, but to be honest, I didn't really like the book. I couldn't see the older Jacob and the younger Jacob as the same person. The old Jacob was whiny and had little of the same personality as the younger Jacob. The writing seemed simple- as if written for a much younger audience. The book gave me something to do for eight hours, but otherwise, was unmemorable. Still, I had a good feelings about the movie. The major themes were visual in nature. I wanted to see this Depression era traveling circus, witness visually the dangers of getting on someone's bad side while on a moving train, and most of all see the training of the very independent elephant, Rosie. All of this had the potential to translate well on film.
