-----Original Message----- From: Philip Hart [mailto:philiph at SLAC.Stanford.EDU] <snip> FWIW, Christopher Hitchens (who is often a nut but is at least a diehard O'Brian fan - see http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=188 ) sort of pans M&C at http://slate.msn.com/id/2091249/ - in particular because of the portrayal of Maturin. I thought that the actor did a fine job as Maturin with the material that he was given. There is virtually nothing in the movie about Maturin's background. This movie is not an Aubrey-Maturin story. It's all about Jack. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you take the movie solely on its own merit and don't try to compare it to the novels. That said, the movie left me unmoved and unengaged, but then, so did the novels when I tried to read them a few years ago. One day I intend to give them another try. <snip>