The Convert

Directed by Lee Tamahori, The Convert follows a 19th century preacher (Guy Pearce’s Thomas Munro) as he arrives at a small New Zealand village and is eventually caught in the middle of a battle between warring Māori tribes. It’s familiar yet workable subject matter that’s employed to often shockingly tiresome and tedious effect by Tamahori, as the filmmaker, working from his and Shane Danielsen’s screenplay, delivers an egregiously deliberate drama that’s almost entirely lacking in compelling, attention-grabbing attributes – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a continuing emphasis on digressions of a dull and entirely disposable nature. (There is, for example, a completely underwhelming subplot detailing Thomas’ efforts at tutoring a young Māori woman he rescued.) And although Tamahori has peppered the proceedings with a handful of engaging elements, including Gin Loane’s stirring visuals and Pearce’s typically commanding performance, The Convert’s astonishingly interminable midsection renders such positives moot and ensures that the action-heavy climax is hardly as impactful or satisfying as Tamahori has obviously intended – with the end result a complete misfire that couldn’t possibly be less involving or interesting.

* out of ****