Master and Commander review, Master and Commander DVD review

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Buy your copy from Amazon.com Master & Commander (2003) Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd 
Director: Peter Weir
Rating: PG-13
Category: Drama/Action

Peter Weir's war epic "Master and Commander" is the most realistic experience you'll have on the sea since Ridley Scott's "White Squall." The film ditches the use of special effects in favor of the real starkness of nature in a cast-driven experience that will nonetheless test both your patience and interest past the one-hour mark.

Capt. "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) commands his ship around Brazil as he and his crew chase a phantom French vessel named the Acheron in an attempt to halt Napoleon's conquest at the shores of Britain. Along for the trip is the ship's surgeon and Jack's best friend Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), who aside from fixing up the wounded after battle, serves as the captain's counsel and musical partner, their violin/cello duets beautifully filling out the soundtrack.

Short on plot, it's surprising that Weir allows the film to go as long as he does. After the first hour of some brilliant action sequences and entertaining banter between the crew of unknown actors (apart from "Lord of the Rings" star Billy Boyd), the film digresses from an interesting tour of the sea to a tedious and lifeless bore. 

The film has so much to say at once, so many characters to develop and so many side stories that its true purpose is constantly interrupted. The audience is introduced to more than 30 characters and instead of taking the time to fully develop three or four, it focuses on too many crewmembers for short amounts of time and after so much preparation, you tend to get seasick yourself.

Crowe brings in yet another remarkable performance as Aubrey, but it is Bettany that deserves the Oscar nod as the surgeon and friend of the captain. If you can make it through the troubling 40 minute center of the film, the ending will deliver a remarkable payoff. While I enjoyed "Pirates of the Caribbean" more as a sea film, "Master and Commander" is a more intellectual story of strategy and emotion that may rock a few Oscar nominations onto its ship.

~Jason Zingale