Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

As a fan of the Aubrey/Maturin novels, I have to say that this is an amazing adaptation. Crowe isn't big enough for Aubrey, Bettany is too good looking to play Maturin, and Billy Boyd is far too small for Barrett Bonden... but they all work very well in the roles.

Much of the charm of the novels is that there is much that goes unsaid - actions must be inferred from future events. Translating this to the screen is not easy, but here it works out well. Because the film takes bits from all of the books (or many of them, at least), it's chock full of tasty bits of O'Brian. The preeminent pun of the series, regarding dog-watches, is oddly absent, but others are there.

If you like the novels, you will like the film. It captures the feel of the books. The flavor of Nelson's navy is retained. Had I not seen the movie, I would complain about the casting. Having seen it, I have no complaints.