Well-made in most ways

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2009)

"The Caine Mutiny" is a fascinating and entertaining film that you're bound to find memorable. The crew of the a Navy ship known as the Caine receive a new Captain (Humphrey Bogart), who proves to be difficult to deal with in that he restricts the freedoms and liberties of his crew. The men of the crew begin to suspect he may be mentally ill once he begins making bad decisions in the midst of battles and storms, and they attempt to get him removed from the Caine. The film has strong parallels to "Mister Roberts," in that both have a difficult Captain, both involve the Captain waking up his crew for petty reasons, and both involve the crew trying to remove the Captain. This film, however, takes a slightly more serious approach, and I actually like this film better. What makes this film interesting, and even funny, is the methods used to show the Captain's perceived insanity. For example, to demonstrate strawberries he feels are missing from the ship, he uses sand, which makes the crew feel awkward and gets some laughs from the audience. I'd have to say that this film is significantly less than perfect, however, because too much is spent on telling the predictable difficult love story of one crew member, which sets up an unnecessary second plot which does not enhance or have anything to do with the first. With better overall focus, the film could have been a true masterpiece. Still a very good, well-made movie worthy of the title of classic.
***1/2 out of ****