Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in a scene from ‘Water for Elephants’

MANILA, Philippines -- The high-tech and ultra-polished “Cirque de Soleil” comes to Manila soon, promising entertainment on a lavish scale. But not cheaply – prices will be just as high as those paid by spectators in the US (three completely different shows in Las Vegas casinos alone) and in Europe.

Trust Manila’s 400 and their wannabes to shell out four to five thousand pesos for the best seats. For isn’t that what some of us did pay to watch Lea Salonga in the Philippine premiere of “Miss Saigon” many years back?

“Cirque de Soleil” is the heir to the grand circus extravaganzas of long ago, e.g., Barnum & Bailey, the Ringling Brothers, Zugspitz Artisten and their innumerable mainland China reproductions and reincarnations. The success of these shows owes to what else but the child in us. For wasn’t there a time in our youth when we all waited for the circus to come to town, complete with its jugglers, dwarves, fright rooms, rides, as well as “mermaids,” not to mention a coterie of dice but not really dicey games like “beto-beto?”

It is the child in us that undoubtedly explains our timeless fascination for the Big Top. The same spirit makes it easy to understand the enduring all-year-round popularity of all-time child-at-heart Fred Elizalde’s own version of Disneyland next to the Manila Cultural Center. You know – the one with the wonderfully weird tower? But first things first…

Several decades after America’s story-filled Depression era in the 1920’s, Polish nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski (played with endearing credibility by Hal Holbrook who somewhat evokes the aged Gloria Stuart of “Titanic”) passionately recounts to a young circus hand (and, by extension, us moviegoers) the legend of the Benzini Bros. Circus, the pretenders to the Big Top entertainment business dominated by the Ringlings.

The young Jacob (mesmerizingly played by Robert Pattinson who’s rapidly developing as this generation’s James Dean or Marlon Brando) has had to leave both Cornell University and his bank-sequestered home upon the death of his parents, victims all of the greatest financial ruination in the history of the US Without thought about what lies ahead, he boards a train that turns out to be the cross-country transport of a traveling band of circus performers.

Initially threatened with expulsion from the private train, Jacob gains an ally in old hand Camel (Jim Norton) who suggests that the youth could well work as the water boy for the Big Top’s elephants… which, of course, explains the film’s enigmatic title. He claims pride of place in the show, offering his services as a Cornell U graduate veterinarian for the caravan’s animals. The proposal initially impresses circus honcho August Rosenbluth (a very complex and nuanced performance by “Inglourious Basterds” Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Christoph Waltz), coming as it does from a young, well-dressed guy who has apparently had an enviable education. At the same time, the reference to a Cornell scholastic progeny spurs envy in the obviously street-smart August, and he decides to throw Jacob off the train.

But… enter the star of the show, striking blonde Mrs. Marlena Rosenbluth (Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon in yet another role to die for, like those of Pattinson’s and Waltz’s) whose white horse Jacob diagnoses in one piercing glance as suffering from acute pain and certainly nearing death. Things then change, for both the better and the worse.

“Did I pick the train or did it pick me?” Jacob asks in monologue. What an ominous prologue to what could be the season’s best film. But, not unlike “Inception” of last year, it may be too early for Oscar contention; the studios usually release these films in December. Truly, it’s only, indeed, May, and we already have two great movies, the other one being “Thor.” What an auspicious start!

I’ve never heard of “Water for Elephants” director Francis Lawrence. He apparently made his directorial debut in that supernatural thriller “Constantine” which starred Keanu Reeves. He has for sure brought to life in the most enthralling way Richard LaGravenese’s screen adaptation of the now must-read Sara Gruen novel of the same title.

It helps that we see the story unfold through the painterly eyes of “Brokeback Mountain” cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, as edited by Alan Edward Bell to music by James Newton Howard. Howard has famously garnered a slew of Oscar nominations for his scores in, among others, the George Clooney starrer “Michael Clayton” and in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village.” The evocative sets by production designer Jack Fish work with Jacqueline West’s costumes to enhance the movie’s storytelling authenticity

“Water for Elephants” is a 20th Century Fox production. Their Philippine counterpart’s dynamic Mae Vecina generously shared with me the film’s production notes. Warner Bros. distributes the film.

“Water for Elephants” runs for 122 minutes; it is rated PG-13.

Cristobal Labog has worked as a copywriter, creative director and strategic planner for advertising agencies in Manila, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Brussels and Amsterdam. He divides his time between Trabzon, Turkey, on the Black Sea and Mandaluyong in Metro Manila. E-mail crislabog@gmail.com for questions and comments.