Holly on Hollywood
“The Promise”
by Holly McClure
“The Promise” is a romantic historical drama set at the end of the Ottoman Empire, before World War I. In 1914, Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant apothecary, travels to Constantinople to become a doctor. While staying with a relative he meets a beautiful Armenian named Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) and her boyfriend, renowned American journalist Chris Myers (Christian Bale). Myers is there to expose the genocide of the Armenian people by documenting the killing of Armenian men and the deportation of women, children, the elderly and sick, on death marches leading to the Syrian Desert. The three are swept up in a love triangle while….
….literally fighting for their lives to save the ones they love.
The PG-13 is for mature audiences with wartime violence, gunfights, explosions, an implied romantic scene, visuals of genocide and a few bloody images. Several scenes show the Armenians resisting and fighting back, culminating in a mountainous battle where they held off the Turks for over 50 days. This epic tale of love and war reminded me of the classic “Doctor Zhivago”, dramatically conveying the horror and genocide that took place against 1.5 million Armenians (a fact Turkey denies ever happened) andeerily reflects what is going on in Syria today. This is a beautiful film that’s well written, with an excellent cast and inspiring scenes, including one where an American ambassador demands Myers release from the Turkish government (my audience erupted with applause at that scene). I enjoyed this story of love,heroism, faith, self-sacrifice and taking a stand for the value of life.
“Remember to Choose Your Movies Wisely”
~Holly On Hollywood~
Holly_McClureHolly McClure is a multimedia personality with a career that spans over 20 years in the entertainment industry. Her background as a film critic, film and television producer, creative director, filmographer, radio and television host, author and pundit for family values, has established her expertise and made her a recognized advocate for family-friendly entertainment.
Holly was the first family film critic syndicated in over 365 newspapers with The Orange County Register. Her “Holly on Hollywood” movie reviews have been featured on TBN, Daystar and can now be seen on Uplift TV, The Word Network, UANetwork, Parables.tv and other affiliates.
In 2002, Mel Gibson asked Holly to come to Italy and film the behind-the-scenes interviews for The Passion of the Christ. She produced a one hour special, The Making of The Passion of the Christ (TBN, ION) and has since produced numerous press features for films like; Do You Believe, Dancer and the Dame, God’s Not Dead, The Frontier Boys, House, Thr3e, One Night With the King, Midnight Clear, The Visitation, Hangman’s Curse and others.
Holly is a charter member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and serves on the advisory boards of The Dove Foundation and The Parents Television Council. She is a proud mother, grandmother, mentor and Christian, and passionate about supporting and creating life-changing entertainment!
For more information visit Hollymcclure.com or IMDB.com
