Master and Commander gets great

Master and Commander gets great reviews

A.O. Scott reviews Master and Commander, which comes out tomorrow, in the New York Times: "Master of the Sea (and the French)".

"This stupendously entertaining movie, directed by Peter Weir and adapted from two of the novels in Patrick O'Brian's 20-volume series on Aubrey's naval exploits...

"Aubrey (Mr. Crowe) is an ideal personification of modern executive authority � the Harry Potter of the managerial class. His adventures are salted with arcane technical lore and administrative wisdom that resonate deeply with even the most landlubberly middle managers and office workers. "Master and Commander," were it not a movie, could be a Powerpoint seminar advertised in an airline magazine: Leadership Secrets of the Royal Navy. [so worthwhile for UAS Public Administration students - Ben]

"This is not by any means to slight Mr. Weir's accomplishment (or, for that matter, O'Brian's); it is, rather, to explain why, in his expert hands, the smallest details of shipboard behavior become so breathlessly absorbing. The battle sequences are filmed with impressive coherence and rigor, but "Master and Commander" is, if anything, most thrilling between skirmishes, when the complex system of authority and deference that runs the Surprise � and the personality traits needed to keep it running � is at the center of attention."

At the Washington Post, Desson Howe likes it too: "A Masterful Performance".

""MASTER AND Commander: The Far Side of the World" isn't just a fabulous seagoing spectacle. It's one for the ages. Not only does Peter Weir's film give you an atmospheric feel for the agony and ecstasy of early 19th-century sea warfare, it's a rollicking good story."

At Slate, David Edelstein thinks its

"....a rousing and magnificently crafted 19th-century warship saga that handily dispenses with pesky questions about ulterior motives, civil liberties, and recalcitrant indigenous populations that bedevil our country's present-day engagements. Oh, to be in England, when the seas were high, the seamen higher, and the enemy plundering Frenchmen�led by Napoleon Bonaparte, bent on lining Trafalgar Square with guillotines. See you in hell first, rude Frog!"

"Naval Gazing. Peter Weir's swashbuckling Master and Commander.".