Well, as a dedicated fan of O’Brien’s novels, including those outside the Aubrey/Maturin pantheon, I thought the movie stunk up the place. I only watched it once, and if I hadn’t been a guest of a family member, I would have walked out halfway through. Casting Crowe as Aubrey wasn’t too bad, (Aubrey is actually a rather one-dimensional character anyway), but the guy whom they chose for Maturin was wildly miscast, and his part written so badly that the introspective intellectual Stephen Maturin of the books was only barely recognizable. Special effects worthy of a 1930’s B-roller put the kiss of death on it. Which didn’t take much, since the plot-line was a hodge-podge of scenes from several books, chosen I suppose to maximize the melodrama, didn’t hold together at all. Patrick O’Brien deserved better.
/rant
O’Brian.
I also loved O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels, so I didn’t see the movie. I have found, over the years, that it’s best not to see a movie adaptation of any book that I enjoyed (the lone exception was To Kill a Mockingbird).
This is off the point, but would you mind telling me where your FR name comes from? I’ve been thinking it was one of John Brunner’s books, but I cannot remember. We have moved recently, and most of our 4,000+ science fiction books are still in boxes until we get the library shelves built, so I can’t easily check. Thanks.