The Promise

If Minghella or Lean had been in the chair, it could have been wonderful. As it is, it's just a fairly graphic but poorly told story that clumsily mixes bodice-ripper stuff with the horrors of the Turkish-Armenian genocide during World War I. Nothing against the three leads, but the whole comes across as predictable, clichéd, and the horrors of war are mostly portrayed in a soft presentation with poorly used camerawork and cheap effects. The potential is enormous, but for a capable filmmaker who could give it the patina of the old epic movies, and Terry George is not up to the task yet. (2020-06-21)

To film an essentially romantic movie with a tragic storyline about the Armenian Genocide strikes me as simply idiotic. This is such a crucial topic that should be discussed and written about, and it's almost unbelievable that more wasn't extracted from it. And yet, there are very good actors here who could handle something much more controversial and meaningful. (2017-07-10)