Russell Crowe has been directed by many good and qualified directors, so by now he must have picked up on many of things. Which I reckon can be seen in his directorial debut. Would it have been better if he had just concentrated on one thing though? Tough to say, especially because it does not seem to affect his acting in the movie at least. The direction on he other hand ... that's up for discussion, unless you argue it was the script that needed improvements.
Having said all that, the movie is emotional and it does take you on a (literal) journey. It also seems very strong on making a point in showing gray areas in war and laying out blame. To a certain degree that is, because you do get some "bad people" to, which is a shame and not consistent to what the message should be about. Not to mention an overly dramatic ending, that really was unnecessary. Other than that, this was more than a decent film debut
Having said all that, the movie is emotional and it does take you on a (literal) journey. It also seems very strong on making a point in showing gray areas in war and laying out blame. To a certain degree that is, because you do get some "bad people" to, which is a shame and not consistent to what the message should be about. Not to mention an overly dramatic ending, that really was unnecessary. Other than that, this was more than a decent film debut