Right from the beginning, Russel Crowe's directorial debut, THE WATER DIVINER, is already sweeping with unfathomable amount of emotions, gathering affection the moment it flashes grim representations of war and what follows at its heels. From there, it treads through compassionate subjects of ambitious scale, stumbling upon its own entanglements at times, but gets saved by towering affectionate performances from its actors.

The film follows the story of miraculous farmer (he knows where to find water underneath the arid earth) Joshua Connor (Crowe), whose three sons were sent to the war in Turkey. Years later and none of them has ever come home. His wife mourns over their presumed death, and succumbs to fatal depression. Swearing at his wife's grave to bring their sons' remains home, Connor voyages to Turkey, not even knowing what exactly to expect and see.

There is much to admire in Crowe for helming such historical romance, teeming with bold themes about love, family, and war. His directorial inexperience screams with some odd choices he made, like the forced romance between Connor and Olga Kurylenko's widow character, and the mostly ill-woven narrative his screenwriters knitted, but the sentimental performances of his actors and himself, are overwhelming enough to make up for the narrative inconsistencies. These solid heart-shattering performances summon the affection they truly deserve, and make the film, amid of its script's evident flaws, able to relay its sincere intentions, to the audience. Also a key factor for its effective delivery, is an exquisite cinematography that is able to capture the dreadfulness of the war, the sorrow of a grieving and longing father, and the breathtaking sceneries of countryside Australia, assuming incredibly toned palettes that shifts along the landscapes of the story.

This movie could have been perfect with an excellently-written script, but considering it's just Crowe's first directorial assignment, I'd say this is one hell of an epic job. Sincere, heart-wrenching, and beautifully-acted, THE WATER DIVINER, packs an incredible wallop of searing emotions, sending the most striking of sentiments, despite the faults in its storytelling.

Set in 1919 The Water Diviner tells the story of an Australian father of three young men all of whom have enlisted with the ANZAC's in the Gallipoli campaign in World War 1. Subsequent to the battle in which the Allied forces were defeated all three have failed to return home and are now presumed dead. Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) their father, a Victorian Outback farmer with a gift for divining water makes a promise to his wife to bring them home and heads off on a quest to Gallipoli to find them.

This is the reasonably promising premise laid out in the first 20 minutes of the film. I didn't envisage a swash-buckle fest at this stage; nor is it true to say it becomes this, but the film does veer in that direction once or twice over the ensuing hour and thirty minutes. It seems like a betrayal of the seriousness of the subject matter because of this.

The Water Diviner is relatively entertaining but it falls short of what I was hoping for and I think this is because it neither all-out delivers as a full on ravages of war redemption story or as an all- out high-spirited adventure. Having said that some of the battle- scenes (shot in flashback) are unflinching and are probably the best scenes in the film.

The cinematography is beautiful to the eye but the end effect here is that it feels too sanitised at times. There are other things that rankle as well- a burgeoning love story which comes over as too shoe-horned and heavy handed for my liking and in my view steals the central story of its import. There are two scenes in particular where the viewer is required to make the jump from believing in the power of the diviners hand to believing in altogether more mystical powers or insights divined by the same hand (also to do with powers of location). Another thing to watch out for; the film plays host to a stock character or two- witness the very officious English officer who speaks in stereotypical clipped tones, previously seen in countless other films.