I want more Russell Crowe

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2015)

Russell Crowe bares his soul in this debut directing the feature The Water Diviner. Elegant, compassionate, multi-faceted, elevating, intimate, vigilant . . . these are some of the words that come to mind when reflecting on this work.
I enjoyed the music very much; Russell wrote and produced the ending credits song. He tells a good story about how the song manifested at the 11th hour via Skype and several European countries.
The acting was excellent, full of emotion that Russell captures with beautiful close-up shots. At the SAG Film Society Q&A Russell talked about how he took his actors through "boot camp"; a rehearsal process that gave the actors the necessary time to imbue their performances with magic. I applaud him for his leadership, and respect for the art. The results are evident.
It's not an easy feat to weave a balanced widely appealing multi-international story that highlights the complexities of the human spirit. Crowe made it look like he's been directing for decades.
Crowe states he did not want to star in his film initially. The producers weren't going for that. Obvi. Thank God, he was perfection.
His smile as he spoke about capturing the eyes in the close up frames of budding super star Jai Courtney who played Lt. Col. Cyril Hughes was a clear indicator that Crowe is on the right path.
Jai's presence sang a captivating solo from the big screen and melted my heart!
Okay, so I really loved this film - I am searching for a negative critique so I don't sound like a cheer leader. Hmmmmmm, . . . . . war sucks. That's all I've got right now. I'll have come back to that thought later maybe. In short -
I want more Russell Crowe movies!