Master and Commander - screenplay by Peter Weir
A good thing. A very good thing. A tight, well told story, wonderful historical detail, great performances, visually engaging. And nary a male-female exchange: no love story, and you don't miss it. Not for a moment. First and foremost, this is a story about friendship; duty and honor and war are all there, but they serve as backup. Colorful, well done backup, but backup.
This is the first time I've got the sense of how tight quarters were on ships of this period. I did so much research on this very topic for Dawn on a Distant Shore, but I wish I had had these visuals to work with. Good stuff.
I should point out that the audience was probably 3:1 male:female, in spite of Russell Crowe (who was looking realistic for his role, and thus not too much the romantic hero).