Based on a novel by Liane Moriarty, “Big Little Lies” centers around the lives of three mothers from the wealthy town of Monterey, Calif., whose common denominator is that their children are all attending first grade together.

Movies based on acclaimed books are usually pretty good, often generating Oscar buzz months before their release. Unfortunately, “Water for Elephants” is not one of those movies. The movie, based on the novel by Sara Gruen, isn’t all bad by any means, but it doesn’t dazzle either.