Review: The Water Diviner

Russell Crowe’s directorial debut arrives in timely fashion to jump on the centenary of WWI commemorations, and just ahead of the anniversary of the Gallipoli conflict. By taking on such emotive local subject matter, Crowe has ensured his film will get an audience, even if it is a painfully inept attempt at making an involving film.

Connor is an outback farmer with a gift (or perhaps it’s just luck) for finding water on his arid property. His three sons went to war, and none of them came home, something that weighs heavily on Connor, and even more heavily on his wife. After his wife drowns herself as a way to escape her grief, Connor resolves to go to Gallipoli to find the bodies of his sons and bring them home.

When he arrives in Turkey, a street urchin grabs his bag and flees, forcing Connor to follow him to the guesthouse run by the child’s mother. Crowe takes a room and is soon getting himself involved in the lives of the mother and son, who are here because her husband went missing in Gallipoli fighting for the Turks.

A ton of red tape makes getting to Gallipoli harder than Connor expected, but he’s a scrappy, tenacious Aussie, and won’t take no for an answer. It doesn’t take long for him to win over the brass and be allowed to search the area in which his kids were last seen. In far too short a time, his water divining prowess brings him on the bodies of two sons. It becomes clear the third was taken prisoner and the second half of the film is taken up with his searching for the missing boy.

For an emotive subject, this film is surprisingly cold. There is one scene, a flashback to the boys in Gallipoli, which is the only moment in the film I felt anything for any of the characters. However, it’s a harrowing glimpse and one that might disturb sensitive members of the audience to the point of walking out.

Unfortunately Crowe shows little directing skill. All his choices are safe and predictable and the result is a film that feels like it has been put together with a paint-by-numbers kit. There are no surprises in the storytelling or style.

Despite being shy of a two-hour run time, the film feels long, which is never a good thing and suggests the pacing is off. And Casting Megan Gale as a humble Turkish peasant in 1919 is nothing short of ludicrous – her teeth and complexion are far too perfect to be believable.

If you’re looking for a film to watch this Boxing Day, I suggest you give this one a miss and go and see the far superior Love Is Strange.

4/10

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