Reasonably promising premise which ultimately falls short

Rating: 6/10 (18 April 2015)

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.