The Far Side of Decent
by
Karl Moeller

I must admit right off the bat that I am a Patrick O'Brian ("POB") snob. I think his writing is excellent, and I've been rereading the 20-volume Aubrey-Maturin "Canon" for some years now. So I'm not able to evaluate Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World solely on its merits as a film. The pictures in my mind of the various scenes and characters are too indelible to be overridden by great production values and big-name actors.

Director/co-writer Peter Weir's screen adaptation keeps familiar characters' names and throws in some of the books' bon mots, puns, catch phrases, and the principals' famous violin/cello duets...all the while yanking bits and pieces from at least four of the novels, and moving the main plot from 1813 to 1805, God knows why. The film also changes the "bad guys" from Americans to the all-too-easy-to-hate French, and virtually buries one of the two main characters. By cutting up bits of O'Brian's books, throwing them in the air, and then taping them back together, Weir plays "POB confetti" and fails.

The Canon was always about the friendship between Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey. I always considered the incredibly accomplished Maturin to be the brains and Royal Navy Captain Aubrey the body, although at times they'd surprise me. Both had their troubles with women and with life ashore. In addition to being a renowned medical authority, author, and pioneering naturalist, O'Brian's Maturin was a spy, working for the British Admiralty, working in every way possible to overthrow France and Napoleon, who Maturin considered a threat to every nation.

In this film, however, the hopelessly miscast Paul Bettany has to make the best of a deliberate effort by the screenwriters to turn Stephen Maturin into a strange sidekick and walking conscience for Captain Jack. Yes, he may get more screen time than other supporting characters. The sidekick usually does. But is there anything at all in this film to indicate that he is anything more than an excellent surgeon and bumbling naturalist? No - that would have cut into screen time for Jack and the chase and the broadsides. Brains and depth don't photograph well, or fill seats like the Hunk Factor does. So long, Stephen. Maybe we'll meet you someday in an actual POB movie written by someone with a little respect.

So what is left? In Weir's storyline, although Jack Aubrey is supposedly a superb, canny seaman, he is easily outfoxed twice in a row. Production values? Of course. You get a lot for $135 million. There have never been broadsides so realistic. You'll want to duck. The "rounding the Horn" sequence far outstrips The Perfect Storm. Life aboard a sailing ship has never been so vividly portrayed. And some belowdecks personalities and superstitions do come into play. Yet I never felt the claustrophobia and despair of those stuck 'tween decks. Alhough characters are killed off by the dozens, only one death comes close to being effective - a "man overboard" scene during a storm where Jack is forced to leave the man to drown in order to save the ship.

Choosing Russell Crowe to play Aubrey was a canny move by Weir. It mandated a large budget because Crowe's presence guarantees a large return on investment. Star power. Is he the best choice? My mind's eye keeps turning to Liam Neeson -- though 51, he's of a size and authority with O'Brian's Lucky Jack Aubrey. Russell Crowe does his best to inhabit Aubrey's character, and at times, mostly in loud speeches which end in "lads," he succeeds. Part of the problem is the wooden dialogue. During the first ship-to-ship engagement, a midshipman runs past Jack, sensibly doubled over so as not to get shot. Crowe-as-Jack stops him, straightens him up and says, with a smile, "We stand tall, son. All of us." Gulp. Uh, aye, aye, sir.

It is possible that this film will attract a new generation of readers to Patrick O'Brian. The first book in the series, the real Master and Commander, is a difficult read. It tells an excellent story and presents absorbing characters in a writing style that feels contemporaneous with Jane Austen. For those accustomed to reading Ross Macdonald or Clive Cussler, O'Brian is a lot of work. Rewarding, but work. Often O'Brian will introduce a term and not define it -- ever. He has a disconcerting habit of building to a huge plot point, and then skipping right over it and referring to it in subsequent dialogue or letters written by the main characters. For those willing to stretch their imaginations and vocabularies, these age of sail novels are incredible reads, little of which is hinted at in this film.

There has been some talk of a sequel, if Master and Commander is successful. In my opinion, there won't be another POB film from this bunch. Yes, it's only a movie with two hours to tell its story. But there were far better stories in those twenty volumes which could have been told. Perhaps Hollywood economics somehow required a nonstop chase scene, admittedly filled with authentic and dreary details of shipboard life. Russell Crowe didn't come close to filling my idea of Aubrey's shoes, and Paul Bettany did his best with an underwritten sidekick role in which he's stuck with being Jack's conscience.

My verdict: it could have been so much better.

©2003 Karl Moeller
CineScene