The movie is about a veterinary student Jacob (Robert Pattinson), who loses his parents in a car crash and discontinues his studies in final year and joins the traveling circus, Benzini Brothers circus. The circus owner August (Christoph Waltz) hires him to look after the animals when he discovers that Jacob has studied veterinary science. Jacob falls in love with August's wife, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) and finds out that August is cruel towards animals. The bond between Jacob and Marlena strengthens when they both work together to train the circus's main attraction, an Asian elephant named Rosie. The movie tells the love story of two people overcoming all odds.
There was also some controversy associated with the movie with Animal Defenders International (ADI) group releasing a video that showed the elephant (Rosie) in the movie was beaten by the trainers. But American Humane Association (AHA) had monitored the sets and given the film 'No animals were harmed' certification. A Facebook campaign was also launched to boycott the movie. The producers of the film also said that no animal was harmed during the shooting of the film.
Water for Elephants received mixed reviews and debuted at number 3 on its opening weekend. The movie received an average rating of 6.1/10 on Rotten tomatoes and 59% of the critics gave the film a positive review.
