THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT – Review

As giant apes and mutant loners battle it out at the box office, the multiplex can still spare a screen or two for a love story. Okay, albeit a love story set during a time of violent conflict. Yes, it’s a romance in the trenches, a war-time story of love. But which war (unfortunately we’ve got too many to choose from). World War II was the backdrop for two big flicks last year, ALLIED and HACKSAW RIDGE (mainly in the first half before the near constant carnage). No, this new film goes back a tad further, to that “war to end all wars” World War I. We’ve got to go back a couple of years for that, with 2014’s TESTAMENT OF YOUTH and 2015’s SUNSET SONG. And while they focused on the great battles on European soil, this new film explores a much warmer climate, in the arid desert lands of Turkey. As Sam sang in another classic of this genre, “It’s still the same old story…”. Basically, it’s girl meets boy, or in this movie, American nurse meets THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT.

Working at a Philadelphia hospital in 1914, 23 year-old nurse Lillie Rowe (Hera Hilmar) is frustrated. She’s not allowed to treat a badly injured construction worker, due to his race. Lillie’s angered as orderlies drag him away to a far off “colored” facility. Later she joins her parents for a lecture (and charity plea) spotlighting a handsome doctor named Jude (Josh Hartnett) who helps run a Christian missionary hospital in Anatolia (later Turkey). After a reception, Lillie takes Jude to her family’s stable and shows him her late brother’s truck. She offers it to Jude, who is grateful, but fears the vehicle can never make the long, treacherous trip to his hospital. Lillie then makes a decision which shocks her parents. She will accompany the truck nearly across the globe. When she arrives in Anatolia, officials insist that she be guided to her destination by a military escort. Hesitantly accepting the assignment (after meeting Lillie at a local bazaar) is the dashing officer of the Ottoman empire, Lieutenant Ismail (Michiel Huisman). The two cultures clash, but ultimately an attraction sparks between them. After bandits separate the two from the transported truck (filled with vital medical supplies), Lillie and Ismail finally reach the hospital. Empty handed, Lillie volunteers her services as a nurse to Jude and the senior doctor, the haunted scowling Woodruff (Ben Kingsley). As a world war begins, Lillie is caught up in the battles with Armenian rebels and the Ottoman Empire (soon joined by Russian troops). And she finds herself in the center of a love triangle with Ismail and Jude. Can she survive in this foreign land, and just which man will she choose?

Though not the title character, Hilmar’s Lillie is the real focus of the state. Unfortunately her performance seems too contemporary, not fitting in with her surroundings from over a hundred years ago. As she confronts her parents, she’s more like a petulant teen pouting over the loss of her cell phone, rather than a rebellious free-thinker (she’s ill-served by the trite clunky script). It’s tough to see her as the ultimate love prize that the two male leads literally fight over (in the middle of the hospital courtyard, for gosh sakes). Mainly it’s a battle of the squinty hunks with patchy facial hair in need of a real 1914 haircut. Michiel ,in the title role, is attempting the swarthy swashbuckler (think of some of the better movie Sinbads or Omar Sharif), comes off instead as humorless and wooden. In his crisp, lighter colored uniform (really?) Ismail is a dull but indestructible twist on the GUNGA DIN trio. At least he’s more consistent than Hartnett’s character, who changes moods and motivations at the drop of a hat. The quiet compassionate doc becomes a surly Mr. Hyde when Lillie is running about with the dreamy soldier. He too ,may be more 2017 than 1917 in his demeanor. It’s the opposite of Kingsley’s Woodruff who is beastly from the start, then is slowly “cured” of his melancholy by exposure to the “beauty”. His American accent too often recalls his sing-song clipped patter as the Mandarian from IRON MAN 3.

 
Joseph Ruben’s leaden direction never elevates this from playing as a slightly more polished TV movie, a co-production from basic cable staples Lifetime and the History Channel, with a dash of Hallmark. The cliche-ridden script from Jeff Stockwell goes for several sequences of Lillie and Ismail racing on horseback through endless acres of wheat to convey their passion (easier than having them engage in compelling conversation). And to save a bit, we’re treated to endless black and white film montages (maybe some ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT mixed in with early historical footage). It would simple enough to dismiss this as a trite misfire, but the film veers into some odious areas of historical whitewashing. The sad story of the Armenian people is skirted around, with the film pointing the finger at Russian invaders (just one of many guilty parties). One sequence that’s both ludicrous and offensive occurs when Ismail and Lillie spot a band of renegade soldiers marching some Armenian peasants through the woods. While Ismail and their leader, a lower-ranked officer, argue (c’mon!), we see several peasants walking off-screen followed by gunshots, no cut-aways to their fates. With that THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT goes well beyond being a clumsy dud and turns into a real cinematic sink-hole.

1/2 out of 5