"Somebody pull up the Anchor...this thing is dragging”

With a laboriously sluggish story line and vaguely developed characters, high hopes for Master and Commander as the next epic blocbuster may sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Master and Commander is based on the historical novel by Author Patrick O Brian, a relatively undiscovered, author of the twentieth century whose naval adventure novels in recent years have been acclaimed as the best historical novels ever written. Certainly the great praise paid to this
writer is warranted, however not all stories translate well from paper to film, this movie being a good example.

The only reason I can determine the film makers would make this book into a film would be to somehow feed the non-History informed, reality TV watching populace a spoon sized, unseasoned piece of what it was to live and fight among a 19th-century British ship in the times of the Napoleanic Wars.

In that attempt they do deliver what would seem to be historical accuracy, some of the most interesting being the crude surgeries the ship’s Doctor, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) would perform on the seamen after battle. But, other than a few interesting glimpses into the daily lives of these men, the film grossly fails to provide any real character development. The storyline sinks and bobs in and out of the audiences interest for almost the whole of the movie.

Russell Crowe, does deliver faithfully the role of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, the arrogant but loveable tyrant of the Naval ship, who stops every 15 minutes in the movie to give one of his lesser cohorts a pat on the back and a reminder of his run-ins with great politicians and warriors. However, there is little real definition as to the motives and or real relationships with Aubrey and his crew. Sadly, just as we are revealed an ever so slight glimpse into one of the supporting cast’s characters they are promptly killed off.

Not until the last 30 minutes of the movie is there a feeling of engagement between the crew and continuity to the story, which really is too little too late.

Master and Commander isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. And with all of the great movies made in the history of cinema, and the few spare hours that you have to sit and watch them in your life, you may be wasting precious time viewing this one.

Olivia Frisbie is a graphic designer currently living in Oklahoma City. Check out her website and pay her lots of money to design stuff for you.

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Review by: Cinema Eye