Water For Elephants - animal lovers?

[kally]

I have read the book and it is sad, but marvellous - but is the movie too sad for animal lovers to watch?

I have a friend who doesn't want to see violence against animals and I think she might be out of luck with this movie. Who has seen it?

What do you say?

[Juds]

A friend wanted me to go with her. We have both been involved in domestic animal rescue for decades. I had read the book and thought that I might have a reaction to any kind of violence, even of the off-screen kind, particularly if the film stayed close to the book, you know. I can easily handle any of that sort of thing as long as the story is not realistic. Pulp horror is my favorite kind of reading. Bring on the zombies and have them feast on the vampires, whilst the aliens do whatever it is that they do...it is all good. Frankly, the gorier and less socially-redeeming that stuff is, the better I like it.

Realistic stuff just upsets me too much, especially the news, which I have mostly avoided for the past twenty years. I have never been able to watch the Deerhunter, even though I know that much of it was made up, or at least my relatives and friends who were there have assured me. I know that it does not make much sense, but that is the way it is.

So, I decided not to go and she and her husband went. He stayed, but she left and waited for him in the lobby. She told me that all of the violent scenes for which she was there, were portrayed off-screen, but that she finally had enough and left with only ten minutes of the film remaining. Her husband said that it has a good ending and that those minutes that she missed were just about the best part of the movie.

I am still glad that I did not go, but maybe I can borrow it from the library when it comes out on DVD. Or, maybe not.

[iris lily]

You didn't ask this, exactly, but I've decided not to see it.

The book was interesting, but in the end, not a strong one though the setting was great. It stars Robert Pattison--please! Not him. Mediocre.

I plan to send a large donation to the Elephant Sanctuary this year, from my mother's estate. I'm calling my grey formica countertops "elephant countertops" because I've decided not to replace them with granite or whatever, I'm just gonna send the money elsewhere. Our town has a circus elephant that landed at the Sanctuary in Tennessee and hers is a bittersweet story.

[Greg44]

I too have trouble watching movies that show violence against animals...the scene in Horse Whisper where the horse gets hit by the truck...was too realistic for me to watch.

I had not read Water for Elephants, but heard it was a good book. I had no idea what it was about, dw and I almost went to see it this weekend -now I probably will not.

[Rogar]

I liked the book as a pretty decent pleasure read and went to see the movie last night. I didn't think the animal abuse was too graphic or drawn out, but I didn't think the movie was all that good. The character portrayal and acting was only mediocre. As I remember the book, the movie followed it closely, but the movie was just a little too Hollywood. It's still a decent story.

[Wildflower]

I was going to see this movie at the theater, but have decided to hold off until it comes out on DVD. I'm an animal lover and very sensitive to these type of things, so figuring if I am watching the movie at home if it becomes too intense I can turn it off....

I have heard from others though that this is a very good movie, just hard if you are an animal lover to watch at times....

[The Storyteller]

I read this gawdawful book for our library book club, only because I had to. I was pleased that the film was generally panned by the reviewers.

Must have stayed pretty close to the book.