Hollywood take on 1914 man-made disaster in The Promise fails as romantic drama
Perhaps the filmmakers should have considered consulting an Armenian or Turkish panel before producing the movie
The Promise (12A) 134mins
A MOVIE with either Oscar Isaac or Christian Bale in normally means quality is assured.
That guarantee is broken in this failed attempt to shoe horn the Armenian genocide into a sweeping, romantic drama complete with swooning, dancing and men hanged from lamp posts.
Bale, playing a heroic American journalist reporting on Turkey’s annihilation of its Armenian population in 1914, rarely breaks into anything more than a glare as Isaac’s trainee doctor falls for his girlfriend Ana (Charlotte le Bon).
At least he didn’t have to attempt a gnarled Eastern Europeanish accent like Isaac and Tom Hollander.
I doubt the film makers bothered consulting anyone Armenian or Turkish before finishing this very Hollywood take on a man-made disaster.
Otherwise, something a whole lot less simplistic would have been agreed.
Rating: Two stars.