Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

The ultimate dad movie.

I felt bad for rooting for the British until I found out they were fighting the French. Then I was fully on board.

This is such a tactile movie. You really feel like you’re living on this ship with all these bros - the cramped quarters, the salt, the splinters, the surgery without anesthesia. Peter Weir puts you in it. You can practically smell the wood rot and the unwashed men. Somehow it simultaneously looks like such a fun swashbuckling adventure and also a literal hell. The camaraderie is real. The suffering is also real. Both exist at once.

Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany have incredible chemistry - it’s a friendship movie disguised as naval warfare. The battle sequences are visceral and the quieter moments land just as hard.

I understand why dads won’t shut up about this movie. They were right.

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