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Verdict: Masterful and commanding.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

In “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” Russell Crowe stands atop a tall mast, a giant sail billowing before him, his eye fixed confidently on the horizon.

As Captain Jack Aubrey, an officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, he's scanning the sea for his quarry, the French gunship the Acheron. Crowe could just as well be gazing at a slew of Oscar nominations. Because that's the direction this handsomely made and vividly detailed film is heading.

Based on the first and 10th book in Patrick O'Brian's series of historical novels, set at the beginning of the 19th century, the movie focuses on “Lucky” Jack (what his crew thinks of him), as he sails the world on his ship, the HMS Surprise. Along for the ride — and classical duets on violin and cello — is Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), ship's surgeon, amateur naturalist and Aubrey's best friend, confidante and, when necessary, conscience.

Aubrey's orders are to find the Acheron before she sails around Cape Horn. He is to “sink her, burn her or take her as a prize.” But the French vessel not only has more men and mightier cannons than the Surprise's 28 guns and “197 souls,” she's faster and stronger. It's no wonder Aubrey refers to her as a phantom.

With the exception of two stops at the Galapagos Islands, the picture takes place almost entirely at sea. Part of director Peter Weir's genius is how deeply he immerses us in the rough life of a sailor aboard “this little wooden world,” as Aubrey puts it. His actors shimmy up rain-slick ropes, perch on the towering mizzen, slither along treacherous

riggings, sing sea chanties to keep themselves entertained and their spirits up. When a battle is joined, they man booming cannons and slop through their comrades' blood and guts.

Often, Weir pulls back from the ship, in sweeping long shots that make the crew look like ants scurrying around an anthill. Thanks to a combination of models, tank work (he filmed in the same 6-acre water tank used in “Titanic”) and computer-generated images, a state-of-the-art typhoon serves up one perfectly terrifying monster wave after another.

Aside from battles with and the pursuit of the Acheron, there are only brief threads of subplots. A ship's officer, still a boy but also a lord, shows his pluck in a surprising way. Another officer is labeled a “Jonah” by the superstitious sailors. A rift arises between Aubrey and Maturin when the captain exceeds his orders and follows the Acheron into the Pacific. His determination, says the doctor, “begins to smack of pride.” We don't get to know the crew very well (look for Hobbit Billy Boyd among them), which robs the movie of some of its emotional impact. Weir wants a visceral response to Aubrey's derring-do. He imbues the film with the bluff heartiness of a boys' adventure novel, which, leavened by the author's meticulous research, is pretty much the tone of O'Brian's books. Things happen in a rush, without much time to consider any deeper meaning.

Bettany, who played Crowe's imaginary roommate in “A Beautiful Mind,” has completely shifted his body rhythms. Typically, he's feathery and wired, more Johnny Depp than Tommy Lee Jones. Here, he's more centered. His doctor is a thoughtful man, a moral man, a man ruled more by reason than impulse. He also has a good sense of humor. At one point, as everyone rushes about the ship following Lucky Jack's orders, he notes, “Clearly, something nautical and fascinating just happened.”

As for Crowe, “Master and Commander” is hard to imagine without him. He bestrides the movie like a colossus, aglow with authority, cunning, humor and just the right touch of swashbuckling. It's the sort of machismo-charged performance few actors can pull off these days (Tom Hanks atop a sail?). Alternating between dramatic roles like “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Insider,” and action roles like this one and “Gladiator,” Crowe is having the career Richard Burton should've had. Just as Maturin says, something nautical and fascinating is almost always happening in “Master and Commander.” It's the sort of broad-shouldered, epic-size picture that, thanks to “Gladiator's” Oscars and advanced technology, may be back in style.