Producer: Troy Lum, Andrew Mason & Keith Rodger
Director: Russell Crowe
Star Cast: Russell Krowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, Dylan Georgiades, Sem Yilmaz & Yilmaz Erdogan et al
Genre: Historical Period Drama
Verdict: Good. Worth Watching

Debutante director Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner is no doubt an entertaining war fare, albeit a bit contrived and artificial as far as its emotional quotient is concern. It is a historical period drama set in Australia and Turkey during the first world war.

Plot: The scenario opens in 1919 after the end of world War I. Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) an Australian farmer and water diviner returns home one fine day, when his spouse Eliza Connor (Jacqueline McKenzie) is still seen grieving as her 3 sons have not yet returned home from war even after a lapse of 5 years. At last fearing them to be dead Eliza commits suicide and Joshua sets off in search of his missing sons. But Joshua meets with a lot of resistance until Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) advises captain Lt – Col Cyril Huges (Jai Courtney) to allow Joshua to search for his sons.

Aces: Russell Crowe’s debut directorial finesse as well as the par excellence performances by the trio of Russell Crowe himself in tandem with Olga Kurylenko and Jai Courtney with adequate support from the rest of the cast. Not to forget the brilliant cinematography by Andrew Lesnie.

Minuses: If only it was a purely cross cultural family melodrama and not served as a cocktail of war film.

Last Word: A heart touching tale of a father and his missing sons