The Water Diviner: Movie Review

If the words “Inspired by True Events” didn’t pop-up in the beginning of Russell Crowe’s directorial debut “The Water Diviner”, I might have been able to cut it a little slack. Unfortunately the events that take place throughout the film (which also stars Crowe) are so far-fetched, that I found it hard to believe much of what was going on.

I know that a man can find water beneath the ground in order to form a well with the right skill and tools, but I find it hard to believe that the same man can travel across the sea to a land where his sons died in battle and know exactly where their bones are located, especially years later. Granted the main character, Joshua Conner (Crowe) is fictitious, as the name of the actual man who traveled from Australia to Turkey is unknown, but I just did not buy the story as it was told.

The one positive note I can make about “The Water Diviner” is that Crowe is actually quite good and he definitely has it in him to become a good filmmaker. Olga Kurylenko is captivating as Ayshe a woman who Joshua is drawn to while in search for the remains of his three sons. “The Water Diviner” isn’t terrible, but it is far from divine.

By: Marc Ferman