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MASTER AND COMMANDER
by Peter Sobczynski

November 14, 2003

1/2 (out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Written by Peter Weir & John Collee. Directed by Peter Weir. Starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall and Chris Larkin. PG-13

"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is a sea epic that is physically impressive and imposing and contains some astonishing action sequences and a robust, blood-and-thunder lead performance from Russell Crowe. And yet, despite those considerable qualities, I found myself vaguely disappointed by the end credits because I felt that while a lot of stuff certainly happened, nothing of genuine consequence had actually occurred. It is obvious that a lot of time, effort and energy went into the production of this film and while the work and expense clearly shows in every frame, it winds up being in the service of a film not quite worthy of it.

Inspired by the series of sea-faring novels by author Patrick O'Brien, beloved by many and unread by me (with most of the material taken from the first and tenth of the 20 books), "Master and Commander" centers on Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Crowe), a captain in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars. As the film opens, his ship, H.M.S. Surprise ("28 guns, 197 souls") is attacked off the coast of Brazil by a mysterious French ship. It turns out that the attacking ship, the Acheron, is a technologically advanced boat and if captured, its secrets could turn the war around in England's favor. Despite the severe damage to both his ship and crew, Aubrey decides to set off in pursuit of the ship in the hopes of capturing it. However, his desire for capturing the prize leads him and his crew into numerous tight spots (including dwindling supplies and bad weather) and Aubrey's right-hand man, ship's doctor Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) begins to fear that his obsession is beginning to outweigh his common sense and could lead to their destruction.

As the ship moves from place to place, the action is staged with great physical energy by director Peter Weir, a man whose previous works (including "Witness", "The Truman Show" and "Fearless") would hardly lead one to believe that he could possibly be the right person for the job. Working on the biggest scale of his career (both artistically and financially), Weir lives up to that challenge with a film in which all of the scene of grand physical action feel real and genuine. At times, especially during the opening scenes as the resting crew of the Surprise suddenly launches into battle, it feels as if a camera were somehow smuggled aboard a genuine ship of the time and managed to capture the footage live. I know that there were hundreds of special effects-both computer and practical-involved in the sequences but they never feel like effects and there are just as many moments where it is clear that what we are seeing is real; that really is Russell Crowe riding atop a ship's mast a couple hundred feet off the ground, for example.

The problem with the film, however, lies in Weir's approach to the material. The basic central character in a Weir film is that of an outsider who finds himself alienated from the world around him (sometimes knowingly, as in "Witness" or "The Mosquito Coast" and sometimes unwittingly, as in "The Truman Show"). This time, the audience itself is the outside character as Weir plunges us into the story without really explaining much about the characters or the historical context. This is similar to the approach that Ridley Scott used in "Black Hawk Down" and while I found it effective in the case of Scott's film (possibly because I was already familiar with the source material), it doesn't quite come off as well this time around. I would assume that if you have read the novels, this won't be much of a problem but for those coming in with a blank slate, it takes so long to get a bearing on what is going on (not helped by the fact that most of the large cast is pretty indistinct except for Crowe and Bettany) that by the time you do, the film is practically over.

I don't want to come down too harshly on "Master and Commander" because it is a rare attempt to do something different. It is rousing and frequently thrilling, it has some welcome bits of humor throughout. and it contains further proof that Russell Crowe is one of the most fearless actors of our time and one of the few suited to play outsized characters like Captain Aubrey. And yet, it just never quite pulls together into the great film that it is clearly aiming to be. Because of this, I cannot entirely recommend it; however, if you have an inkling to see it, find the biggest screen in your area to catch it at because this is one of those movies that, no matter how elaborate your home-video system, will simply be useless on the small screen.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.