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Water for Elephants?

I read the book over the summer. It was o-kay.

 I've been very curious to see the movie. I was waiting forever for it to come out on video. However, the only place I can rent is through this box at the casino (I live in the middle of nowhere in Nevada)--which isn't a Red Box--it's just this box that someone started up through some other company and I suspect the only things you can rent in it are movies that the box owner actually buys and then lets people rent. Not a whole lot of options there. 

Thus, no Water for Elephants to rent.

 Has anyone read the book and seen the movie? How did they compare? Did it suck?

Re: Water for Elephants?

  • I thought the book was okay, but I felt like the movie left out the "magic" of the circus compared with the hard life the crew and performers. It felt a little "blah" to me. But the elephant scenes still made me cry.
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  • I really liked the movie, but like PP said, I felt like a lot of the "magic" was missing. All in all, I thought it was a great adaptation of the book.
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  • I loved the book. The movie was sub-par in comparison. They left out a lot and changed the narration from old Jacob to young Jacob.

    I still enjoyed the movie, but I think they changed too much to translate it to the big screen. The book was much better.

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  • I read the book last year and wasn't all that impressed, and I saw the movie on Saturday.  It was one movie that actually followed the book fairly closely, from what I can remember, and I liked it.  Agree, missing a little magic, but it still captured as much as a 2hr movie can.
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  • I really liked the movie, i thought it followed the book pretty closely with some minor changes.
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  • I am surprised at how many people thought the book was just ok. I loved it, the imagery was amazing. It was lacking a bit in character development, but I thought it was so well written that I could look past that.

    I hated the movie. Reese Witherspoon was a horrible casting choice for Marlena, and she and Robert Pattinson had zero chemistry. Their scenes together were almost painful. They also changed some details that I thought were really important (including the ending). 

  • I loved the book and thought the movie was okay.  I didn't love the characters in the movie like I did in the book.  The only character that was spot on was August.  He was just as scary in the movie.  I really hated that "young" Jacob narrated the movie, it should have been the "old" Jacob telling the story.  Also, I was moved more by Rosie's role than any of the human characters.

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  • imageChelle112:
    I really liked the movie, but like PP said, I felt like a lot of the "magic" was missing. All in all, I thought it was a great adaptation of the book.

    Same here. It's not movie that I'd want to watch over and over again though.

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  • imageLadyExtravaganza:

    I hated the movie. Reese Witherspoon was a horrible casting choice for Marlena, and she and Robert Pattinson had zero chemistry. Their scenes together were almost painful. They also changed some details that I thought were really important (including the ending). 

    Ugh. I love Reese. LOVE. But she was not Marlena at all. I thought Rob portrayed Jacob really well, but you're spot on about their chemistry, or lack thereof.  

    August was perfection, though. 

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  • imageChelle112:
    imageLadyExtravaganza:

    I hated the movie. Reese Witherspoon was a horrible casting choice for Marlena, and she and Robert Pattinson had zero chemistry. Their scenes together were almost painful. They also changed some details that I thought were really important (including the ending). 

    Ugh. I love Reese. LOVE. But she was not Marlena at all. I thought Rob portrayed Jacob really well, but you're spot on about their chemistry, or lack thereof.  

    August was perfection, though. 

    ITA, August stole the show.

    Reese is just too sweet and innocent to be Marlena. She doesn't look or act the part. 

  • I *loved* the book so much.  The imagery and magic just stole it from me.  The movie didn't bring it all to life for me.  You don't feel for Rosie nearly as much as you do in the book in the movie.  August was the only one I think was the perfect casting.  I'm glad I saw this post because it reminds me that I want the book back from one of my coworkers that borrowed it..

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  • Thanks for all the responses!
  • I am surprised at so many people saying they just felt the book was "meh," I really loved it! I didn't feel the same way about the movie. I mean they did a fairly decent job with following the book but so many details were left out that it just felt lacking to me. Plus I just never bought into Reese's portrayal as Marlena. She seemed to be in love with her husband in the movie, whereas in the book, she really wasn't. Like it was weird when they were constantly so lovey dovey with the PDA's.
  • I thought the movie was a lot better than I thought it would be. I liked it. 
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  • I read the book a few years ago so it wasn't fresh in my head when I saw the movie. But I really liked the movie. I think it did a lot better than most movies that are based on a book. I would give it an A.
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