The Promise

Director Terry George brings to this story a special gift, honed in his Hotel Rwanda (2004), for choreographing the chaos of civil collapse, and the three stars serve him well.

The first major representation of the Armenian genocide boasts solid acting but falls short of the mark by a hokey, old-fashioned romance.

Terry George ... proved with Hotel Rwanda that he can tackle the wrenching subject of genocide with thrilling cinematic results. A wonderful cast adds no-fail polish.

As one might expect, the horrors and the normalisation of same are deftly handled, even when the dialogue is overloaded with historical and political details.

It's a handsome film and George manages to keep the genocide in focus with shots of the Turks herding long lines of refugees across the desert expanses. But the full horror is kept at one remove.

With its sugary soft-focus, treacle-toned cinematography, over-masticated fake Turkish accents and cloying love triangle device, this is film that delivers more empty calories than historical sustenance.

Movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Reds had the ability to sweep viewers away with their passion and grandeur. The only sweeping to be found in this case will be by the theater employee tasked with removing spilled popcorn from the auditorium floor.

The Promise can... be faulted for a plot that is so dense that even attentive viewers can be excused for wondering, What's going on here?

Not a great work, the film still manages to pack a great deal of power into its punches.

Shame that, save for a few effective sequences, the bulk of it is a terribly bland affair.