Flash Movie Review: The Water Diviner
Something must happen to one’s senses when they become a parent. All of a sudden it seems like their hearing stretches out for several blocks and their eyesight is akin to an eagle. I do not know how it happens but I can remember during the summer months parents and their children from the neighborhood would always be down at the beach and no matter where a child went their parent would always know their whereabouts. Even if there was a group of kids playing in the water; if one stepped on a rock and gave out a yelp, their parent back on shore sunning themselves would immediately sit up and scan for their child. I used to feel like I was surrounded by these superhuman mothers with special powers. That unique connection must get turned on from the love one has for their child. It is a bond that gets twisted, bent and squeezed yet never breaks. In fact you may have seen on the news that mother from Baltimore who, though her son had a hoodie pulled over his masked face, spotted him in a crowd and made a beeline from him. I heard an interview with her where she said she could not tell it was her son by his face; but just his stance and the way the sweatpants were hanging on him, she knew it was him. It is amazing what parents will do for their children. WITH their death weighing heavy on him Australian farmer Connor, played by Russell Crowe (Winter’s Tale, State of Play), was determined to travel all the way to Turkey to find his sons’ corpses and return them back home so they could have a proper burial. This award winning drama was Russell’s first foray behind the camera as director. I have to say I was impressed with his first attempt. The story was big regarding the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli, so there were a lot of scenes and a large cast. Besides Russell taking the title role there was Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Hitman) as Ayshe and Jai Courtney (Divergent franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard) as Lt. Colonel Hughes. Now there were some parts of this war film that could have been cut back, especially the love interest story line; I found it to be unnecessary. There was also a melodramatic sweep through this picture, where things were predictable and seemed as if they were tweaked with the viewer in mind. In addition there were a couple of parts that did not make much sense; however, with the expansive landscapes, the international locations and the pure story line about a parent’s love, I felt I was seeing an old-fashioned Hollywood period piece. There were several scenes with violence and blood.
2 3/4 stars
Posted on April 29, 2015, in Drama and tagged 2 3/4 stars, award winning, drama, gallipoli, jai courtney, olga kurylenko, russell crowe, turkey, war. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
I might see this when it’s available on the small screen as I’m gobbling up anything relating to the WW1 centenary (I’m a family historian). It was sounding like this film had good potential until your mention of the unnecessary love story. I hate when a romance element is crow-barred into a movie. It detracts from the main drama. It’s poor story telling to create padding that contributes nothing to the focus of the movie. So thanks for the heads up on that.
My pleasure as always. Let me know when you get to see this film; I would be most curious.
I didn’t hate it, but I just felt such a disparity between what I felt I should be feeling and what I actually felt – there was a disconnetion that I never got over. Well said.
I can understand where you are coming from. What helped me I think was staying in the dark about the film until I was able to see it. Maybe another way of saying this is, low expectations? Thanks again for your comments.
I want to see this movie. It’s a family story with love and pain.
I hope you get to see it and I would like to hear your take on it. Thanks for stopping by to leave your comments.
I really do want to see this one, and your review just wet my appetite to make sure I do see it.
Lol, I love your line about wetting your appetite, very good. I hope you get to see this and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on it. Thanks again for the comments.
I saw Russel Crowe talking about his film on CBS Sunday Morning, and just found his candor about Hollywood refreshing.