Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World

Russell Crowe has the all-dominating lead role as the skilful, proud and more than a little stubborn Captain Jack Aubrey in Peter Weir's magnificent "Master and Commander".

The film is set in the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars. Aubrey's ship, HMS Surprise, is off the coast of Brazil when it comes under surprise attack from a French ship, the Acheron. Although the Acheron is both bigger and faster, Aubrey is determined to take revenge, so he does everything he can to catch up with the ship and capture it. That, in all its simplicity, is the outward plot.

The rivalry between the English and the French takes up a good deal of the picture, but Peter Weir has more on his mind. At the centre is the friendship between the captain and the humanist ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, a passionate naturalist in his spare time. Maturin is the only one with the ability and the courage to question his friend's decisions, not least the wisdom of chasing the privateer.

"Master and Commander" is at the same time a vivid portrayal of conditions on board the ship. Rarely have you come so close to feeling the buffeting of the wind and the spray of the salty waves, and the film definitely belongs on the big screen.

Unless you are male, the 138 minutes at sea will feel a little drawn out, long or very long. At any rate, under two hours would be quite enough. For once one can speak of a real boys' film, not least in that there is room for, at most, a few women among the extras.