The Water Diviner *** (2014, Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney) – Movie Review

It’s good to see the gentler side of Russell Crowe for his good-hearted directorial debut. He also stars as an Australian farmer called Connor, who travels to Turkey in 1919 to try to locate his three missing sons some time after the Battle of Gallipoli. He stays at a hotel in Istanbul, while trying to find a way for permission to get to Gallipoli, which is prevented by the stuffy English military authorities.

The Water Diviner is very moving in places – all the scenes connected with his efforts to find his three son’s bodies in Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli. [SPOILER ALERT] And of course it is especially moving when he finally finds one of his boys still alive. It’s also exciting in places – when father and son try to escape.

Connor’s improbable romance with gorgeous hotel manager Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) while staying at a hotel in Istanbul, is less well done and less convincing. And Jai Courtney has an unrewarding role as Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Hughes, supervising the fallen soldiers’ graves. The film has uncertainties of tone, mood and pacing that an experienced director might have controlled better.

But, nevertheless, this is a thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining movie that is very worthwhile as a healing war drama and exciting escape epic.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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