Release Date: November 14, 2003

Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences, related images and brief language

Written and Directed by: Peter Weir

Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy, Lee Ingleby, George Innes, Mark Lewis Jones, Chris Larkin, Richard McCabe, Robert Pugh, David Threlfall

Plot:
Russell Crowe is Lucky Jack Aubrey, the Navy’s greatest fighting captain and Paul Bettany is ship's doctor Stephen Maturin. The ship, the Surprise, is suddenly attacked by a superior enemy. With the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured, Aubrey – the "Master" of the Surprise and "Commander" of his men – is torn between duty and friendship as he sets sail in a high-stakes chase across two oceans, to the far side of the world, to intercept and capture their foe. It's a mission that can decide the fate of a nation – or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew. The film is based on the narrative outline of the tenth book in Patrick O'Brian's legendary "Aubrey/Maturin" series of high seas novels about the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Review:
Peter Weir, Director of the brilliant Truman Show makes a film of action and war. It is the French against the English back in the 1800's. It strikes me as odd that he transitioned from a drama to action, but all goes well.

Peter has a sense of style like not many directors have and that is definitely a good thing. In Master and Commander, his style of directing is what clearly makes the film stand out. The many scenes involving situations from storms to action scenes, they are created very tightly.

Master and Commander is a sea adventure film packed with great acting. It has Russell Crowe playing the lead role of Captain Jack Aubrey. Once again, Russell shows his talent and does very well as the lead in Master and Commander. Paul Bettany starred in this film as well and played Dr. Stephen Maturin and he was a surgeon. They both collaborated well and gave good performances.

Mentioning that, the action in this film is also amazing. Cannons, gun fires and other weapons are shot and its visually great. It is simply the most entertaining pieces of this film. Being entertaining is something Master and Commander failed in places though. While the film had nice visuals and was entertaining at times, the story they had rolling seem to drag a bit at times and was completely longer than it should have been.

Master and Commander had a number of flaws with the script that avoided it from being a completely solid film. While it is an acceptable movie, a film of this caliber should have surpassed expectations and should have been more than what it resulted being.

At the same time, the film is enjoyable for the different situations that can shock the audience. It also seems to me that if the film didn't have Peter Weir involved it would have failed as a result. This is because Weir holds the film together and doesn't disappoint whatsoever as a Director. The budget of Master and Commander was definitely a large one.

I love watching the sunset with you.

Most of the budget of this film clearly went looks to the cannons, the beautiful boats and all the action scenes done in the film. The film sure delivers the action strong and its superbly done, there is no doubt about that.

Getting back to the actors, yes Rusell Crowe shows that he can be a continuous good actor. His accent goes very well and he can adjust to many accents as I have seen in his past films. That is a very good talent, but it just seems like he is a natural. He even had to gain weight, quite a few pounds to fit the right size for the role.

Is this Crowe's best performance ever? My answer to that question would have to be No. I think he has done better in A Beautiful Mind and Gladiator for that matter. Nonetheless he gives an above average performance and along with Weir, Crowe doesn't disappoint. Thats not to be said with the story though, which could have been elevated.

This film is not for which side you are really routing for because they don't show much of the French. That brought a rather sadness to my face because I wanted to see how the French were preparing. I like to see both sides of things, when battles and war is occurring. However, the film still turns out rather interesting as a final product.

Master and Commander is without a doubt a good movie in its own right. As the Academy Awards approach, I can see why it would be nominated for Best Picture, but it truly doesn't deserve it. Although a good movie, there have been quite a few better pictures. What I would really like to see though is Peter Weir nominated for Best Director because he truly deserves it for his vision. When you witness Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World you see great filmmaking, but you see a lack of story and entertainment. It still holds up and balances out as just pretty good and nothing more.

Master and Commander: Far Side Of The World

Rating: