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The films is an adventure set four years after the devastating battle of Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Connor travels to Istanbul to discover the fate of his sons, reported missing in action, where he forges a relationship with the beautiful Turkish woman, who owns the hotel in which he stays. Holding on to hope and with the help of a Turkish Officer, Connor embarks on a journey across the country to find the truth about the fate of his sons. The Water Diviner is an extraordinary tale of love, hope and heroism.
This is a movie lacking in life or vibrancy, or any real emotions for us to actually connect to or relate to the characters; it is enamoured by its subject matter and as such tries to make itself too respectful.
It's clear that Russell Crowe has poured his heart and soul into the historical romance The Water Diviner, his first feature as a director. If only the film were better.
Even slightly self-censored, its images of broken cities and the walking wounded is a strong restating of the film's message: There is no such thing as a "good" war. There's only war - sometimes necessary, sometimes not. And always inhuman.
[This is] for the tiresome cynics who think that many films aren't about anything anymore, and would rather a film be definitively about something, than any good overall.
Crowe strives to strike a universal chord about the futility of war. Simplistic? Maybe. But in crafting a film about the pain a parent feels after losing a child in battle, Crowe transcends borders and politics.
Crowe needs, badly, a director to push back against his default mode: The script for The Water Diviner posits that Joshua Connor is the most interesting man in the frame at all times, but Crowe's performance doesn't earn that.
Indeed, this is the 51-year-old Crowe's first time as a movie director, but he's hardly a novice actor stepping behind the camera for some sort of vanity project.