"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- An intrepid British navy captain must seek and destroy a Napoleonic frigate menacing the waterways of the early 19th century in the lavish historical high-seas adventure "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (20th Century Fox).

It seems as if waging war against the diminutive Corsican always has a way of engendering alliances. In an instance of strategic cooperation not seen since Waterloo, three studios have joined forces -- 20th Century Fox, Universal and Miramax -- and have placed director Peter Weir at the helm of a $135 million budget, marshaling an armada of filmmakers to rival Wellington's numbers, in order to bring the movie, based on Patrick O'Brian's highly popular maritime novels, to the big screen.

Trading in his gladiatorial sword for a sextant, Russell Crowe plays "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, the stalwart but affable captain of the HMS Surprise, whose seafaring exploits fill the pages of O'Brian's swashbuckling series -- 20 in all (the film combines elements of the first and 10th books). Paul Bettany (miscast, according to O'Brian purists) is on board as Stephen Maturin, who, in addition to his sans-anesthesia duties as ship surgeon, serves as Aubrey's confidant, providing cello accompaniment to the captain's violin playing sessions. Maturin's pre-Darwinian naturalist curiosity not only fuels the two men's relationship with emotional tension, but supplies the filmmakers with an excuse to become the first feature film in movie history to shoot on the Galapagos Islands.

Set seven years earlier than the 10th novel -- in 1805 rather than 1812 -- during the Napoleonic wars, the film opens with an overlay of text explaining, with military economy, the mission facing Aubrey and his crew -- hunt down and seize the Archeron, a French man-of-war which represents the evolutionary next step in naval warfare. After an initial engagement off the coast of Brazil, the HMS Surprise is outmatched by the faster, heavier-gunned frigate. But the briny Brit shows his barnacled battleship still has a few, er, surprises in her sails.

Tracking his prey with Ahab-like tenacity down the length of South America, around the perilous Cape Horn and into the vast Pacific Ocean, Aubrey must weather titanic squalls, near mutinies and omen-tainted dead calms. Yet, in true heroic fashion, it is the inner storms -- the tidal waves of pride, which dwarf the outer swells -- that Aubrey must master and command if he is to win the day for England, Henry and St. George.

Firing a shot at the bow of would-be Oscar contenders, Weir has achieved a stunning victory on both a large and intimate scale. The film contains the grand spectacle of the original source material, as well as its painstaking attention to detail, proving effective as both a work of historical realism and escapist fare. And while the movie echoes the thrills of such past classics as "Captain Blood" (1935), Aubrey and his mates are endowed with complicated inner lives absent from their silver-screen antecedents. While the film's nautical lexicon is at times impenetrable to landlubbers, the story is well paced, or, to borrow a salty phrase from Aubrey, "quick's the word and sharp is the action."

Following in the swashbuckling footsteps of fellow Aussie Errol Flynn, Crowe (who bulked up in keeping with the book's description of the wily seadog) is well-cast, exuding a sense of steely determination tempered by blithe humor and genuine affection for his men. Crowe's Aubrey, whether manning guns or puns, moves with convincing ease among officers and scurvy sailors alike. Crowe softens his "tough guy" image, taking time to visit an injured young midshipman, enthralling him with stories of his days serving under the legendary Lord Nelson.

Beneath its epic rigging, "Master and Commander" explores deeper thematic waters, including friendship versus duty and the role of hierarchy in staving off anarchy. While containing several graphic naval battle scenes, the film shows their consequential toll exacted in human life, with Weir's hand maintaining a strong hold on the wheel, steering the narrative ship clear of the morally treacherous reefs of gratuitous violence. On a pleasantly surprising note, rather than using a rudder of political correctness to sail around the topic of religion -- or tossing it overboard completely -- the film contains a touching moment of Aubrey leading his crew in reciting the Lord's Prayer at a funeral service for their fallen comrades.

With 19 other books in dry dock, the "Master and Commander" series should have enough wind in its sails to keep the franchise afloat and Crowe in the, er, crow's nest, for years to come.

Due to naval battle violence with related gory images, a suicide, and minimum mildly crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

* DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.