Every few years, Hollywood goes digging through its old bag of hibernating genres, hoping to catch audiences in a nostalgic mood. Sometimes westerns are briefly awakened, and we get Tombstone and Wyatt Earp released within months of each other. Or they think the world is ripe for more disaster pics, and we get Dante's Peak, Volcano, Hard Rain and Titanic. Now, Hollywood is trying to revitalize the once-lucrative genre of seafaring adventures. This summer, we were given Pirates of the Caribbean, and now we have Master and Commander. We should consider ourselves lucky.
Master and Commander is a rousing, intelligent action film. It's a Pirates of the Caribbean for more mature audiences. There are moments of drama, of sadness, even of gore, but those are only gentle waves on an ocean of adventure. Somehow, the film always maintains a light spirit. Perhaps because, for the most part, the spirit of the crew remains light even under some of the worst circumstances.
The film takes place during the Napoleonic wars. Nearly the entire story unfolds aboard the HMS Surprise, a ship of the British Royal Navy, that has been dispatched to the far side of the world to defeat a French frigate. The two ships meet in the type of battle that has become the standard for period-piece war films—sudden, violent and confusing. This leads into a cat-and-mouse game that alone might've been gripping for the entire length of the film. But Master and Commander isn't worried about racing to its climax at breakneck speeds. It takes its time for interesting subplots and thoughtful asides.
The predominate subplot has to do with the ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) and his philosophical differences with his friend and commander, Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe). Lucky Jack, being the proud soldier, focuses solely on hunting down his adversary. However, Stephen, being a man of science, is often more interested in stopping off at the Galapagos Islands and measuring a few turtles. They are, after all, on the largely unexplored "far side of the world." In the course of their disagreements, both men raise their voices to one another, but their friendship never seems to be in jeopardy. Neither of them are ever really wrong, but only arguing from different perspectives—perspectives that they both teach to one of the younger officers.
Eventually, the story returns to the action. Whether it's the cannons from the two vessels blasting each other into toothpicks or a tremendous storm tearing down the ship's mast, Master and Commander is nothing if not authentic. Nothing ever looks like a set or a special effect. In one particularly impressive aerial shot, Russell Crowe even appears to stand atop the tallest mast, hundreds of feet above an uneven sea.
The film is not without its fair share of clichés, as is expected from the most recent offering of a long-dormant genre. After all, this film needs to remind us what we loved so long ago about this kind of picture. There are sword fights and canons blasting, indecisive officers and insubordinate crewmen. But there are so few films like this made nowadays that it's hard to remember that most of these clichés are clichés.
Crowe does a masterful job of playing Lucky Jack. It isn't the meatiest role he's ever had, but it is one that requires an authoritative actor, as the title suggests. Jack's crew always looks up to him, always respects him, and never loses faith in him. He's definitely no Capt. Bligh. And when Lucky Jack declares that the Surprise will round the horn of South America, catch the larger, faster ship, and take her as a prize, he says it with a conviction that makes both his crew and you believe it. It's an entertaining role, sprinkled with a few bits of unexpected humor, but it probably won't garner Crowe another Oscar.
(However, he did win for Gladiator because he deserved to win for The Insider, so maybe he'll win for Master and Commander because he deserved to win for A Beautiful Mind.)
The screenplay, by John Collee and director Peter Weir (The Truman Show), is based on the novels by Patrick O'Brian. Apparently, there are several novels in the series, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of them made into films of this quality. Seafaring adventure movies are so much fun, I can't remember why Hollywood gave up trying to bring them back.
Oh, yeah . . . Cutthroat Island.