In 1805 an English naval captain suffers horrible damage as the result of a sneak-attack from a French warship. Despite being heavily outgunned and outmanned Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) sets off to find the vessel and enact revenge.

Based on a series of novels by author Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander is a gritty but tame action adventure. Crowe gives a fine performance, as does Paul Bettany as the captain’s long time physician friend and occasion string duet partner. We get to know the captain pretty well, but all the other characters have little background, including the physician. The story relies on these characters being cute, or disliked for us to care about them, which is okay but a bit disappointing.

I did not find any sort of cat and mouse excitement in the film. There was little in the way of intrigue involving the enemy vessel. There was also no pressure cooker drama to be had. They were not up against the clock, there was no threat of mutiny, no disease running through the ship. There was a brief drought, but no one was dying because of it and it amounted to nothing. The captain had all the time in the world to pursue his enemy. It was very much him against the opposing ship's captain but we never get a sense of what that opposing captain is thinking, therefore limiting the excitement. I was also not overly impressed with the cinematography, something I thought would be a highlight.

But Master and Commander gives you quite a bit to like. There are two battle scenes to get your blood moving and I was fond of many of the character portrayals, however shallow they might have been.

There are some obvious storytelling faults here but I still highly recommend the picture for its fine cast, characterizations and battle sequences. In a year thin with worthy Oscar contenders, Master and Commander may find itself with several nominations. It is also worth noting that very few pictures take place entirely on the high seas and this may be the best among them.

Directed by Peter Weir.