Movies of the weekend

I recently read "Water for Elephants," so I knew I had to see it opening weekend. The book was a great read but I never expect movie adaptations to be as good as the book they are based on. I was pleasantly surprised that while the movie of course was not as good as the book, it was still very good and didn't change too much of the storyline. There were a couple small changes and one major character disappeared (for the sake of shortening and simplifying the movie). I was worried about Reese Witherspoon being cast as the lead female, because I imagine the character in the book to be younger, but she did a good job. She looked a lot younger that she actually is (thanks movie magic-ness!). Outside of "Walk the Line," this is the best job I've seen Reese do since "Cruel Intentions." Robert Pattinson was fine but did a lot of his standard brooding look. I think they should have got someone more dynamic to play the lead. The real star, beside the elephant, was Christoph Waltz. That man plays the deranged bad guy (see him in "Inglorious Bastards" for a perfect example) so well. Such a scene-stealer! If you liked the book, go see the movie. You won't be disappointed as long as you don't go in expecting it to be as good as the book.

My rental of the weekend was "Fair Game," the movie depiction of the Valerie Plame spy scandal that rocked Washington during Bush's reign and led to the resignation of Scooter Libby. The movie stars Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame. Her husband, the ambassador, is played by Sean Penn. I think they both do a good job. The movie was very interesting to watch, as I knew of the who incident but never really followed the details. One thing for sure is that it makes me so happy Bush is out of office! It's amazing how many shady things can go on in the government. At the end of the movie, it fades from Naomi Watts giving a statement, to the real Valerie Plame. They actually look a lot alike! This movie has a 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's definite worth a rental.