LOS ANGELES: A decorous, respectable adaptation of Sara Gruen's engaging best-seller, "Water for Elephants" would have come more excitingly alive with stronger doses of Depression-era grit and sexual spunk.

The 1931 circus setting and a love triangle involving three exceedingly attractive people provides a constant wash of scenic pleasure and the film's fidelity to its source will receive nodding approval from the book's many fans. But the vital spark that would have made the drama truly compelling on the screen is missing. The Fox release earned about $17.5 million during its first weekend in North American theaters.

Films about traveling circuses, and the often daring and dodgy people who worked in them, used to be relatively commonplace in American movies and it could be that the novelty of seeing such a troupe, traveling from one town to another on a train with dozens of performers, workers and lots of animals in tow, might be enough to captivate a fair share of people today, just as Gruen's 2006 novel did.

Furthermore, the central dilemma -- that of a beautiful woman caught between her debt to the circus impresario who plucked her from a dismal existence to make her a circus star as well as his wife and her mounting passion for a handsome young man who escapes a personal tragedy by joining the company -- may be well-worn but can always work in the right hands, and Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz are all more than up to the task.

So it's mostly a question of approach. Had the same story been made at the time it's set, one can easily imagine at least two distinct and equally effective potential takes on the tale: One, directed by Frank Borzage at Fox, could have been a exalted love story between two young people fated to be together despite the obstacles, while another, directed by Michael Curtiz at Warner Bros., would have been a punchy, down-and-dirty affair about lowlifes scraping by during the depths of the Depression.

In fact, had screenwriter Richard LaGravenese, who's done a mostly fine job whittling down the novel to fit comfortably within two hours' running time, settled in to watch a dozen early-1930s Warner Bros. films before writing, some hints of period slang, brassy attitude and regional accents might have profitably made their way into the chatter to provide an idea of the different vernacular in use then. Even a tiny change -- the man informing Pattinson's character of his parents' death at the outset states they were in a "car" accident rather than an "automobile" mishap, as in the book -- reveals a trace of fear about the receptivity of a modern audience to antiquated speech. And in those days, indelible character actors would have brought to life a score of insolent, wise-cracking, phrase-making secondary parts with just a few lines apiece.

Under Francis Lawrence's sleekly studied direction, everything has been smoothed out to the extent that even dire poverty does not seem entirely unappealing. Certainly the three leads never do. Looking 300 per cent better than he did in his last non-"Twilight" outing, "Remember Me," Pattinson is entirely convincing as Jacob, a Cornell veterinary school student who escapes from the ruin provoked by his parents' untimely death by almost inadvertently joining the circus.

Due to his imagined expertise with animals, Jacob is taken under wing by the owner and ringmaster of the Benzini Bros. Circus, August (Waltz), a mercurial fellow who's brought the company a long way since he took over and rightly keeps a watchful eye on his beautiful blond wife Marlena (Witherspoon), who rides the circus' top animal attraction, a stunning white horse.

Embraced and roughly treated by turn, Jacob earns a place with the outfit due to his knowledge of animals (his father had been a vet) and his help in recruiting and training a new star, a jumbo elephant named Rosie. Something of a highbrow himself, August delights in the college boy's company but can't help but notice the growing affection between his wife and the bereaved lad.

Although there are skirmishes from time to time, it takes nearly the entire film for matters to fully come to a head and the lack of complexity, danger and underlying tension becomes all too noticeable from the mid-point onwards. Once the climax does arrive, the spectacular scene is over and done with far too quickly, giving it a borderline perfunctory feel.

Waltz, in his first big film since soaring to prominence in "Inglourious Basterds," again scores strongly as a powerful middle-aged man who doesn't eliminate the snake in his grass before it's too late. As for Witherspoon, she's as fetching as ever as the platinum blonde any guy would want to catch. But when August insults Marlena as being of a "common type," it's clear Witherspoon needed to inject a bit of Jean Harlow into her characterization to emphasize the lower depths whence she came that can never be entirely erased. Despite the hard glances and suggestion of a working class accent, Marlena is still a shade too much the lady and not enough of a dame.

Hal Holbrook does a nice job framing the tale as an elderly Jacob telling the story to a modern circus worker, although by rights he should be narrating the whole thing, not Pattinson; again, modern audience sensibilities likely came into play.

GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia: Pakistan lost the only Twenty20 International by seven runs in an exciting finish here at the Beausejour Stadium on Thursday.

Chasing a modest target of 151 runs, they made 143 runs for nine wickets in the first ever T20I between the two countries.

For Pakistan, no batsman except Umar Akmal (41) and Asad Shafiq (25) could resist against accurate bowling by the West Indians as leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo claimed four wickets for 17 runs and fast-medium bowler Ravi Rampaul took three for 31.

West Indies picked a youthful team for the one-off game and the upcoming ODI series, having dropped experienced batsmen Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

One of the young faces, opening batsman Lendl Simmons got West Indies off to a great start with a lively 65 off 44 balls and left-hander Darren Bravo struck 42 off 33 as the Caribbean side brought up their 100 in the 13th over.

But, as so often, Darren Sammy's side failed to build on their good foundation and ended up falling short of a really strong total, with just two other players making double figures.

Pakistan lost both their openers, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, early but Umar Akmal's 41 from 60 balls put them in with a chance.

Bishoo, who caught the eye of West Indies selectors with his performances in regional Twenty20 cricket, then showed his value in the shortest form of the game with some astute bowling.

The vital breakthrough came when Sammmy made a fine catch at extra-cover off Bishoo, to dismiss skipper Shahid Afridi (12) and break up what was a potentially match winning partnership.

Sammy then ran out Mohammand Salman and when Marlon Samuels caught Umar at deep midwicket off Ravi Rampaul, Pakistan were in trouble at 109-7.
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But some loose bowling and some spirited resistance from Saeed Ajmal (21 not out) at the end gave the tourists a glimmer of hope and the last pair needed 14 from the final ove

PARIS The longer a man's fourth or ring finger is compared to his index finger, the more likely he is to be judged attractive by women, according to a study released Wednesday.

The results, published in the British Royal Society's journal Biological Sciences, unveil intricate links between foetal exposure of males to hormones, the development of certain physical traits, and what turns on the opposite sex.

It also adds to a growing body of research -- conducted under the banner of evolutionary psychology -- suggesting that the drivers of human behaviour are found, more than previously suspected, in "nature" rather than "nurture."

Earlier studies had already shown that the size ratio between the fourth and second fingers, especially of the right hand, is a reliable indicator of the extent a man was exposed to testosterone while still in the womb.

The bigger the gap between a longer ring finger and a shorter index, the greater the likely impact of the hormone.

For the new study, scientists led by Camille Ferdenzi of the University of Geneva designed an experiment to find out if women are drawn to the telltale signs of high testosterone levels in men -- a symmetrical face, a deeper voice, a particular body odour -- who have this more "masculine" finger configuration.

More than 80 women university students between 18 and 34 looked at pictures of 49 similarly aged men, and were asked to evaluate them for masculinity and attractiveness.

Smaller groups of women listened to recordings of the male voices, and smelled samples of their body odour, taken from cotton pads worn under the arm for 24 hours.

"The aim was to understand what makes a man attractive," and whether at least some of those qualities "were in part conditioned by the foetal environment," Ferdenzi said in an interview.

For the visual test, the results were unambiguous. "The longer the ring finger compared to the index -- that is, the greater the exposure to testosterone -- the more attractive the face was rated," she said by phone.

"We also found that attractiveness and symmetry in the face are highly correlated."

Such a preference might have evolved to boost a female's chances of reproductive success through mating with a more virile partner, she said.

Surprisingly, however, women did not consistently tag the same men as "masculine".

Nor did their preferences for voice or odours correspond to the longer ring-finger males.

"There wasn't any relation between the 2D-4D" -- 2nd digit, 4th digit -- "ratio and the reactions of the women to odour," Ferdenzi said.

One reason, she speculated, may be that voice and body odour are more dependent on fluctuating levels of adult testosterone than on pre-natal testosterone.

The ring-index finger ratio has also proven to be a useful indicator for gauging the risk of prostate cancer, likewise tied to high levels of testosterone.

Research published in December showed that the chances of developing the disease drop by a third in men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger.

Ghostface's 11-year layoff hasn't made the "Scream" franchise feel any fresher. But with a decent beginning, a mushy midsection and a killer ending, the latest installment at least doesn't feel any staler.

"Scream 4" is pretty much the same-old thing, which the filmmakers hope will seem new again given how long the horror-comedy series has been festering in its temporary grave.

Honestly, it's not an unwelcome thing to watch the return of Neve Campbell as the slasher victim who wouldn't die, Courtney Cox as the tabloid hack in bloodlust for a story and David Arquette as the bumbling Barney Fife of fright-flick cops.

Director Wes Craven has added an attractive young harvest of fresh meat on the victim and psycho front, led by Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin, along with amusing cameos from Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell and others.

"Scream 4" opens with the franchise's usual prologue, this one modestly clever, heavier on laughs than suspense.

But it gets the action rolling and the blood flowing for the main event: Campbell's celebrity victim Sidney Prescott returns to her hometown on a book tour for her memoir about surviving her encounters with the various Ghostface slashers.

Her arrival coincides with the anniversary of the original slayings, when the town's teenage Sidney idolaters already are in a frenzy for the annual "Stabathon" party built around the Hollywood franchise inspired by her experiences.

Of course, bodies pile up as a new Ghostface goes on a rampage.

Cox's Gale Weathers now is married to Arquette's Sheriff Dewey, and the moments of domestic duress the characters experience add a little subtext, given the actors' real-life marriage was breaking up while they shot the movie.

Bored and looking to get back into the journalism game, Gale leaps in trying to unmask the latest Ghostface, while Dewey cluelessly suffers along again, aided by a gung-ho deputy (Marley Shelton) harboring a major crush for him (Anthony Anderson and Adam Brody add decent laughs as a couple of other deputies).

Ghostface's circle of prey includes Sidney's cousin (Roberts) and some of her friends and classmates, among them Panettiere and Culkin. Mary McDonnell also appears fleetingly as Sidney's aunt; the movie progresses in such patched-together fashion that much of her role may have been sliced out.

With a screenplay by original "Scream" writer Kevin Williamson, the movie is an over-long, sometimes plodding collision of characters, any of which could turn out a killer or victim in the arbitrary world of the franchise.

This time, the crisscross of blind clues and red herrings almost makes it feel as if Craven left the unmasking of Ghostface for the last day of filming then simply handed a knife to someone with the instruction to start stabbing.

What comes after that unveiling is great fun, a really clever twist on the clichés of slasher-movie violence.

The movie drags in many spots before that climax. Craven often seems to be finger-painting with the entrails of the first three movies, slopping random blood, gore and gags on the walls to see what sticks.

"Scream 4" slathers on winking, self-referential banter about the conventions of the franchise, along with horror flicks and sequels in general.

Much of it is funny, some of the best laughs resulting when people ponder their place in the hierarchy of horror-genre characters and how that affects their odds of survival.

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team has left for West Indies from Lahore after completing the training camp.

Talking to media before departure at Allama Iqbal airport, team manager Intikhab Alam said, "I am hopeful with young cricketers, they will perform well and InshAllah would help to win the series against West Indies."

He said that young players have a golden chance to get experience and to show their performance.

National cricket team would play a T-20 and a series of one-day international matches under the captaincy of Shahid Afridi, while two test matches under the captaincy of Misbah-Ul-Haq.

National cricket team will start the tour of West Indies with a practice match. The practice match between Pakistan and West Indies teams will begin on 18 April.