Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Director: Peter Weir
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 2.0
Lengthy popcorn adaptation of the Patrick O'Brian novels - taking a bit from this one, a little chunk of that one - done with a keen eye for authenticity (a full-size ship was actually built just for it) but with a middle section that flat lines. The giant battle sequences that bookend the movie are done with shaky cameras pressed against faces and objects and quick-cuts so fast it's difficult to discern what's happening to who - and sandwiched between are four 'tragic' subplots: (a.) the young boy loses his arm, (b.) a cast member we barely get to know is sacrificed, (c.) a suicide takes place because of a mysterious "curse" and (d.) the ship doctor (Paul Bettany) gets shot by a man who didn't have the opportunity to read Coleridge's warning against killing albatrosses (the scene is funnier than it should be). The references get heavy at times, especially when Weir borrows from Laughton and Agee's The Night of the Hunter twice and makes especially obvious how naval warfare can benefit from a bug that can disguise itself. As a whole, it is far inferior to the Errol Flynn-type sea-epics.
