The possibility for laughs exist in these bizarre bits of business, but laughter never comes. This long opening scene exists solely to introduce Red as a comically unpleasant, gold-obsessed monster. I give Polanski some credit for never trying to redeem this character's faults, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed spending time with Red or any other character in this film. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/cannon_corner/pirates.html