An impressive film weakened by supernatural elements

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2015)

"The Water Diviner" is impressive. Defining the film is more of a challenge than describing it. It's part bromance, part road trip and part epic historical drama with a dramatically hollow throughline that, in the finest Hollywood tradition, degenerates into a Western/chase film with the Everyman protagonist transforming into a two-fisted gun-toting action hero.
The cinematography is stunning. The locations, sets and costumes are fantastic. The acting is superb. Even minor roles are detailed and convincing.
The plot is a bit of a mess. The larger, background world-view plot is a Byzantine tale of political and military conflicts, bureaucratic intransigence and cultural conflicts following an epic battle that helped define the national identities of both Turkey and Australia. That part is brilliant, fascinating, and seemingly historically accurate and authentic.
The smaller chick-flick personal plot is an incoherent jumble patched together with a series of improbable occurrences and coincidences, both favorable and unfavorable, and a bit of mysticism. Russell Crowe plays a hardscrabble outback Australian farmer who survives by virtue of uncanny success at dowsing for subterranean water.
Dowsing or divining is a discredited pseudoscience and modern audiences are likely to consider Crowe's character a bit of a crackpot who's clearly been working under the blazing sun far too long. While most of the movie seems highly authentic, its treatment of dowsing tests the limits of the audience's willful suspension of disbelief. I'm no geologist, but I would expect water tables to be relatively large things measured in acres or hectares, not something like buried pirate treasure where X marks the spot and if dig anywhere else you're doomed to failure. There are doubtlessly places where the water is closer to the surface, but those places are more like the dome of a sports arena than the apex of the Washington Monument. If you miss the high point, you may need to dig down a couple of more meters, but you'll still hit water.
Not only does the movie take dowsing very seriously, but this talent morphs into a supernatural ability to visualize past events and distant scenes. Another character also displays powers of prognostication. But the movie isn't about these supernatural abilities or developing them or convincing others that the visions are real. They simply sap the dramatic potential of the plot. In fairness, Crowe's Connor admits that he's dug a lot of empty holes searching for water, but the talent never fails him during the movie.
Connor is up against insurmountable odds. Three armed forces, two government bureaucracies, a resistance group and a jealous suitor are determined to prevent him from reaching a dangerous place where finding what he wants is nearly impossible. Connor reaches the place basically by sneaking in the back way. Once he gets there, his adversaries decide they may as well help him. The dangers never materialize. He uses a bit of magic to find what he wants, but then abandons his original goal. There is a sort of moral about hard work, determination and perseverance, but it is undermined by the supernatural abilities and an improbable coincidence that causes another character to assist at unexpected times.
The water images are nice, but the divination angle detracts from the drama in a manner that isn't at all credible.
The film is definitely worth watching for the background story, strong performances and cinematography. The human story may be relevant to people with supernatural abilities, but less so for the rest of us.