Year: 2004

If I recall correctly, I am somehow contractually obligated to use the term “rousing tale” with the phrase “adventure on the high seas.” Fortunately in this case, it’s an apt description. An amazing yarn from beginning to end– though it ends with the hint of another adventure to be had, which is fitting, considering the twenty book series whence it came. The title is an amalgam of two of the book titles actually, but whether the story is as well, I know not. I’m sure I’ll soon be reading these books to find out.

It somehow manages to fit neatly in the “white guys having adventures” genre I so adore (see Mountains of the Moon, et al.), plus it’s great to see Paul Bettany in another meaty role.

I haven’t read the book, but my wife tells me that the first two acts of this film (the ones I call “maddeningly intriguing”) are the closest to the source. It all comes together in the end, but the re-emergence of Finn’s benefactor took the film on a seemingly unnecessary action-adventure bent.

That said, most of the film is still maddeningly intriguing, and in a good way. I love the way an enormously long shot in the middle of the film (even though it’s actually composed of four shots in a nearly seamless blend) draws you into Finn’s blind panic. Good show!

4 stars.

James Stewart being upstanding, Jean Arthur being lovely and encouraging, and Claude Rains being shocked– SHOCKED!– that there’s corruption in the U.S. Senate. A wonderfully clean-cut fairy tale of right and wrong in the Federal Government. We could use more movies like this one. What the hell happened to Frank Capra, anyway?

Oh.

Well… crap.

4 stars.