The first time I saw "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" I arrived at the theater - for reasons that have nothing good to say about my time-management skills - 45 minutes late. After an earnest warning by the teenager in the ticket booth that he would hate to see me set myself up for disappointment with this fragmented bit of entertainment I secured my ticket, likewise a largish tub of popcorn, and tiptoed into the darkened theater. One hundred and twenty three minutes later I sauntered back out giving the ticket boy a thumbs up. The time I had spent with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and Elizabeth Swan (Kiera Knightly) had been more than sufficient and whatever I had missed wasn't important enough to make me yearn for more.

The second time I saw the movie I arrived on time. The ticket boy got no thumbs up when I left.

What, in the name of all that is good and decent, has happened to Hollywood's film editors? Have they all been wiped out by global warming and Al Gore simply forgot to tell us?

"The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is a film of many virtues but a crisp narrative is not one of them. Over the course of its nearly three hours running time "At World's End" tries to resurrect Captain Jack from Davy Jones' Locker, reconnect Will and Elizabeth, disconnect Will and Elizabeth, reconnect... (oh, let's not go there), put Jack Sparrow at the mercy of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), Davy Jones at the Mercy of the evil Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander), Lord Beckett at the mercy of Will (Yes? No? I was never quite sure), introduce Chow Yun-Fat as a major new character, and imply that Jack Sparrow is a love child of the Rolling Stones. This is an exceptionally busy movie - an essentially silly movie trying too hard, and taking too long, to make sense out of itself.

The effect is to drown out the things the movie does so well. Depp's Jack Sparrow needs some elbow room to capture the center of the film. We all bought our tickets to see Depp reprise his role but he ends up fighting for air as the plot machinations whir around him.

There are few films that are as kind to its bit players as the "Pirates" franchise. From Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) with his errant glass eye to the sociopathic monkey, a lot of the film's humor zings out from the background. A plot with a little more shape (oh, where are the scriptwriters?) would give that humor a better stage.

In the end the scriptwriters seem to have outsourced their responsibilities to the animation crew. "At World's End" boasts computer-enhanced action scenes that rival any blockbuster to date. The naval battle fought in a supernatural storm with pirates dueling in the rigging is wonderfully elegant and entertaining - but also overlong. It wouldn't hurt to nip things down a bit and leave us wanting more

"Million Dollar Baby" director Clint Eastwood once said his philosophy in the editing booth is to cut until it hurts and then cut a little more. If only Jerry Bruckheimer had shipped him the film for a weekend this review would be a happier tale to tell. Because somewhere amidst the jumble thrown onto the screen a classic movie is cleverly hidden.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is definitely worth seeing. Visually it is a delectable treat. Take some time (believe me the movie will give you time) to drink in the exotic characters gathered around the table at the conclave of the pirate kings; they are a lot of fun.

But when you go, go with this warning: arrive on time at your peril.

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Rated PG-13

(Two and a half stars)

Bruce Bulloch may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com