Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World: Australian auteurs Peter Weir and Russell Crowe team up in rollicking, seaworthy epic

There's a quiet maelstrom brewing behind the eyes of Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), the titular master and commander of the English vessel the H.M.S. Surprise during the Napoleanic Wars. Whether he's orchestrating the rigging on the main sail, expertly fiddling at the violin in his quarters or diving for "God, England, and the prize," onto the deck of an enemy vessel with cutlet in one hand and musket in the other, Aubrey is a masterful lesson in courage and bravery. Bracing this wayward hero is Australian director Peter Weir, who sails to the U.S. on the deck of one of his best films in years.

Master and Commander is based on the best-selling, twenty-volume series by late author Patrick O'Brian and tells the story of Aubrey and his best friend (as well as naturalist and ship's surgeon) Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany, who also stared with Crowe in A Beautiful Mind). As he waits off the northern coast of Brazil, Aubrey searches for a much larger, faster and sturdier French vessel called the Acheron. After the Acheron nearly cripples the Surprise, Aubrey begins to doggedly pursue the enemy ship, with all the horrible rage and fervor of Captain Ahab. Along the way, the film poses some interesting questions about the nature of friendship, courage, resolve and duty.

The film is also remarkable in its ability to accurately convey naval life and maintain a quick plot. Interesting subplots including a trip to the Galapagos Islands, a suicidal midshipman, and the starkly different lives of officers and simple sailors, beautifully accentuate the hunt for the Acheron, and offer the audience a fascinating view of science and adventure.

Both Crowe and Bettany are superb. The two men clearly work well together, accenting each other with grace, ease and poise. They are two very disciplined actors who are not only perfectly aware of what they themselves are doing, but also, it seems, of what every other person, right down to the last extra, is thinking. Crowe is a fierce and disciplined commander, tough and just, awesomely powerful and frustratingly helpless. He is at his best not in the battle scenes (although they are extraordinary in their brutality and realism) but in his quieter scenes, such as when he is sharing dinner with his officers or playing the violin accompanied by Maturin's cello.

Bettany is the perfect complement to Crowe. Maturin is brilliant, loyal, and assertive. He will follow Aubrey to hell and high water, but, unlike Aubrey, he is not blinded by pride nor a fierce devotion to duty. As a doctor and caretaker, Maturin wonders if the price of war is truly worth the glory. Bettany seems very comfortable in the role. He is at his best in the scenes where he amputates a young boy's arm without anesthetic and removes a bullet from between his own ribs (the two most excruciating scenes in the film).

Peter Weir (who wrote the script with John Collee) directs Master and Commander with a seasoned touch. The cinematography is beautiful, and the sheer scale of the naval battles and storms that Aubrey and his crew endure are staggering. While the film is mostly confined to the deck of a 110 foot long ship, the movie moves at a brisk pace, expertly juggling several subplots and delivering a satisfying conclusion. The final battle of the film is immense and horrendous. Aubrey and his crew advance across the deck of the Acheron foot by bloody foot, cutting down sailor after sailor in their desperate attempts to claim the enemy ship.

While the movie slows down in the middle and could stand additional editing, Master and Commander is a fine, stout production, anchored by a solid script, a good director and Crowe and Bettany, who, in Aubrey and Maturin, may have found their best roles yet.