Director Peter Weir makes Master and Commander: The Far Side ofthe World, starring Russell Crowe, a surprising deviance from theformulaic movie you would expect Crowe to star in.
Crowe's movies like Gladiator with their huge budgets,historical backdrops, a superleader fighting for duty, lost love orsurvival did well at the box office, but were predictable.
Weir, who directed Dead Poet's Society and The Truman Show,brings his penchant for the unexpected to Master and Commander,breaks out of his traditional format and introduces strongercharacter relationships and more complex conflicts.
Director of photography Russel Boyd shot beautiful scenes.
Alternating between tight shots of the cramped and crowded shipto the wide-open sea, Weir's direction of the film manages to keepyou visually interested.
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, Capt. "Lucky" Jack Aubrey(Crowe) of the British Army, and his crew try to prevent Napoleon'sadvance off the shore of South America.
The French, with a stronger, better-armed ship, haveinstructions to take Aubrey's HMS Surprise as a trophy win.
In the opening scene, the French sneak up on the men out of thethick fog and besiege them.
After battle, losses and injury, the crew assumes it would haveto return home to fix the ship, but Aubrey demands they forge on tocatch the enemy "ghost" ship for another fight, after repairs atsea.
Constant tension between Aubrey and the weary, but loving crew,does not keep them from remaining steadfast toward their fearlesscommander through blazing heat, storms and snow.
When the crew encounters terrible luck at sea -- no wind and norain for a week -- a head-wounded old sailor babbles that it is thecurse of one man, a "Jonah" who is causing such trouble on board.The crew must find, and oust the culprit to break the spell.
Aubrey's good friend, doctor and natural scientist StephenMauturin (Paul Bettany) and he are at odds throughout the movieover the importance of battle versus the advancement of knowledge,and must decide if it is better to chase the French ship or stop atthe Gallapogos Islands for Darwinian observation.
After chasing the French nearly across the globe they finallycome to battle fist-to-fist.
The ending, a twist from the expected, is refreshing and fittingwithout a clich� in sight.
But best of all are the wise editorial choices made. Forexample, Aubrey's love interests and/or woman problems are alludedto, but ultimately not apart of the plot.
Still, there is plenty of blood to satisfy the action fan, withsome limb-ripping cannons, drunken swaggering and a finaleswordfight.
This film has wide appeal. There is enough suspense and actionto keep moviegoers satisfied. Master and Commander was a pleasantsurprise.
