Love Is A Circus

After seeing "Water For Elephants," my first thought was: I finally understood the allure of Robert Pattinson. Try as I might, I never really "got" the Twilight series, as well as the Edward Cullen appeal, but in this movie make no mistake about it: he is a full fledged leading man. He has a screen presence that glows, he is handsome as handsome can be, sexy and imposing. You cannot take your eyes off him he is on screen, and you feel what he feels, as he gives a magnetic performance. Based on the best selling book by Sara Gruen, this movie is old-fashioned. And why not? There are no bombs, no aliens, no superheroes in this movie, but there's plentiful of emotions, ans an honest-to-goodness story. Remember those?  I have not read the book so I don't know how faithful it is to the novel, but what is in here (written by Richard LaGravenese, who also adapted "The Bridges Of Madison County") is epic in context. Set in the 1930's circus scene, it is more than a love story, although love and its consequences drives the whole plot. I didn't even mind Reese Witherspoon, an actress I have very little fondness for. Everyone is raving about Christopher Waltz's performance, and it is good. Since his character is written like a cardboard, one can appreciate how it's almost human-like in his hands. But again, I think this is Pattinson's movie. I fell for him here, and nowadays that's a very difficult thing to accomplish.