Don't Believe the Hype

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I didn't know what to expect from this film, and the subject seemed depressing: a father goes searching for his dead sons in Turkey. However, it was gripping, involving, full of 3- dimensional characters and depths of meaning. The cultural authenticity looked impressive to me, although I as no expert.. All I knew prior to this film was that the Dardanelles campaign in WW1 cost many Anzac lives and was regarded as a disaster. For Russell Crowe's family it was the loss of 3 sons, and all that the father could do was go to where they died to find them.The story builds to a gripping climax and the ending was completely unexpected. I was very impressed, having always been a Russell Crowe fan, with his ability to direct and produce something so meaningful and historically informative, while at the same time giving us a story so moving and ultimately rewarding. Very glad I made the effort to see this.

'The Water Diviner' is a good movie with many positives aspects - the plot has depth, it is well acted out and Russell Crowe did a reasonably good job as director. You do, however, have to be patient and make an effort to stick with this movie because, in parts, it's very slow.I also wasn't keen on the many flashbacks/flashforwards which didn't really add anything to the movie and just made the storyline harder to follow. There's nothing wrong with the plot itself but I felt it could have been executed better on screen.Overall though I thought 'The Water Diviner' was a good movie with a plot with enough depth to keep it interesting.

First of all the film is beautiful, full marks for cinematography. For me this is Russell Crowe's directorial debut and it shows. the film is good, but I didn't find myself empathising with his character Joshua Connor and even less with the family. Maybe Mr Crowe is just trying too hard for a big blockbuster, but as they say from small acorns and I fully expect that with his first film under the belt he will become much more adventurous. It isn't a bad start, just not great. I found myself more drawn to the Colin Firth character in The Railway Man. I look forward to his next film, Russell Crowe brings a great presence to the screen as an actor and ultimately will, no doubt do the same as a director.

Surprisingly I enjoyed this historical war drama about a father searching for his sons in the aftermath of WWI in Turkey. The Gallipoli battle scenes are well done and exciting. The locations are stunning and exotic. The Istanbul hotel is charming. Some of the continuity is lacking between scenes and the story seems to progress abruptly in some scenes. The sending of so many British soldiers after one poor old man is ludicrous.The story is interesting and is well crafted around the historical context. Looking for bodies in the aftermath of battle is quite a powerful anti war statement. Liked the political correctness by showing the Turkish point of view (you invaded us). The weakness is in the message of reconciliation which is a bit too strong - hints of romance between Crowe and the stunning Olga Kurlyenko and between his son and the lady of the night is too much. Russell is too old for Olga. That kind of cheapens the effect and seems like a plump old man's fantasy.Worth a watch.