As an avid reader of all twenty books, I don't see how even the most dedicated O'Brian fan could find anything wrong with it. Both Jack and Stephen had some very weird contradictions, which is part of their charm, but makes them difficult to portray in a movie format. Jack was really, really good at fighting a ship and taking prizes, but tended to be a doof ashore, the sort that starts to tell a joke at dinner and messes up the punchline, etc. Stephen was brilliant, but weird and distracted, focussed so much on his own interests that after ten years at sea he just about knew the bow from the stern on a really good day. A little of this was brought out when he asked "What is the weather gage?" and Jack offered to explain it to him "again". And Russell Crowe played Jack very straight, leaving out that contradictory touch of silliness. When Russell Crowe talked about Nelson asking him to pass the salt, he clearly knew it was funny. In the book, Jack was perfectly serious in thinking it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to him, while everyone else quietly giggled.

I think they did a really good job of portraying Stephen as a duck out of water (or maybe an eagle in the water? out of place, anyway) without bringing out his more unattractive side, which would have made him too hard for the audience to like.

Just for the record, I've seen it twice (had to go with different groups of friends), and will be seeing it again with family on Friday.

Charlie, isn't "Spanish Ladies" a forebitter?