Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 12/29 - Water

I read Sara Gruen’s terrific novel, Water for Elephants, several months ago, then added the film adaptation to my list at Netflix. I watched it last night and was pleased. Was it as good as the book? No, the movie version is usually lacking. I can think of three off the top of my head that are superior: The Godfather series is miles above Mario Puzo’s novel, as is The Dirty Dozen (1967) to E.M. Nathanson’s work, and Breakheart Pass (1975) is to Alistair Maclean’s, although the latter does not come close to the greatness of the other two. Richard LaGravanese, a Brooklyn-born Italian, adapted Gruen’s book to the silver screen. Scanning his credits, I see he also adapted Nick Evans’ The Horse Whisperer (1998), which I really liked. In WFE, he combined two of the male characters, the circus owner and Marlena’s husband. It worked, providing the economy necessary to a two-hour film. A mini-series of at least four hours would have done more justice to the novel, allowing the inclusion of the wonderful color that characterizes it. Within the time frame, a solid film was created, although it feels rushed. There are at least two elements missing that will likely disappoint admirers of the book: no scenes are set in the old age home, and development of Kinko’s character is almost non-existent. Although Reese Witherspoon is supremely talented, she did not match the image of Marlena conjured in my mind. This was my first look at Robert Pattinson, who shot to fame via the Twilight series. He is fine in the lead, another Brit totally at ease with the American idiom. Christoph Waltz continues the major roll he has been on since his performances in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012). He is by far the best aspect of the latter film. Hal Holbrook, approaching 90, brings his usual excellence to the role of the old-timer recounting his life. Made on a budget of 38 million, it took in 58 million in the U.S. alone, a modest success by Hollywood standards. The film was directed by Francis Lawrence, who made his bones doing videos for JLo, Britney Spears and Green Day. Of his previous works in cinema, I’ve seen only Constantine (2005), which has faded from my memory. He recently struck gold at the helm of the second installment of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). On a scale of five, I rate Water for Elephants 3.5. It is rated 6.9 of ten at IMDb. Anyone interested in a change of pace from usual Hollywood fare would likely find it refreshing.

Tons of water fell from the sky today, putting the kibosh on the floating book shop.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx