Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, well known for his work on the Twilight film saga, star in the film. While critics are not impressed with the lack of passion imparted to audiences by the pair, Christoph Waltz, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal as a psychotic Nazi in “Inglourious Basterds”, it winning over the critics. In the film, Waltz plays Witherspoon’s husband who is a cruel ringleader of the circus.
Critics gave the movie some good marks for some of the costumes and other background, but were not pleased with the adaptation from the book. Many indicated that the way information from the book was re-ordered in the movie made for too many situations which, while convenient, were not very believable.