Back in the day, people used to actually dream about running off with the circus. Water for Elephants (starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz) brings back that old-fashioned dream.

In Water for Elephants, Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson) is on the right track to a perfect life when everything is turned upside down. During the Great Depression, with no family or anywhere to go, he jumps onto a random train and into a brand new, PG-13 rated fairy-tale. Now the veterinarian of the entire Benzini Bros. Circus operation, he immediately falls in love with Marlena (Witherspoon), who ever-so-conveniently happens to be the owner, August’s (Waltz) wife and star attraction.

This movie, though predictable, tugs on every emotional string attached to your heart. With a “shout out” to animal abuse, domestic abuse, alcoholism, love, hate, jealousy, murder, and so much more, no person will walk out of the movie theater untouched.

Pattinson first became famous as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but is more well-known as the sparkly vampire sensation Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga. It is remarkably bothersome to consider him “Jacob” in this movie after the huge “Edward vs. Jacob” rivalry in the Twilight. Witherspoon, (Legally Blonde, 2001) plays a blonde attorney much more convincingly than an animal-training circus act. Though the love between Pattinson and Witherspoon does not go unnoticed, the hate between Pattinson and Waltz is much more convincing. Overall, this movie, portraying a magically moving story for anyone over the age of 13.