Rolling Stone
‘The Water Man’ Review: Where the Mild Things Are
David Oyelowo’s directorial debut — about a boy searching for a local urban legend — presents a kinder, gentler version of a kids’ adventure story
By
Karen Ballard/RJE Films
A nice, gentle family film for nice, gentle families, David Oyelowo’s
The Water Man is a light, slight adventure in which the observations about children’s creativity, grief and
carpe-ing the
diem are mild, and the magic-realist perils faced by our appealing pre-teen hero even milder. Its sincerity and solidity are never in doubt — the actor’s directorial career is certainly off to a clean-lined, competent start. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is the sort of film that fond parents