Last night, I was lucky enough to be packed into the Landmark Theater in Denver, CO and screen the highly anticipated movie Captain Phillips. Starring the always brilliant Tom Hanks, this movie follows the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking of the U.S flagged MV Maersk Alabama by four Somali pirates.
Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), I went in hesitant only because of the run-time. I have read numerous articles about the 2009 incident and felt that the 2 hours and 14 minute run-time was pushing it. I couldn’t have been more wrong and I have to say it’s mostly attributed to how captivating the cast performs. The movie opens up with Tom Hank’s Phillips packing for this excursion, taking him from his home in Vermont to the Maersk Alabama in Salalah, Oman. With a crew of twenty men and carrying a cargo load of 17,000 metric tons (5,000 of which was relief supplies for Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya), Captain Phillips is aware of the potential dangers they will face while traveling through the international waters and while running a test drill for a pirate attack, we see two speedboats rapidly approaching the Maersk.
Captain Phillips goes down as one of the greatest biopics I have ever had the privilege to screen. The movie is about a third in subtitles, but that didn’t reduce the drama or the fear I felt for our Captain and his twenty men. The last hour of the movie has Mr. Hanks in a small, closed-off lifeboat with the four pirates and, while in such a small space, this is when the heart-ache and fear began for me. The intensity that Mr. Hanks brings in such a small space is not something that is easy to emotionally and physically relay through film. But, let me not just praise Tom Hanks on his performance: the entire cast was absolutely fantastic: from the crew on the Maersk (including the wonderful Michael Chernus as Shane Murphy) to the emotional Somali pirate Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman); the acting was superb. In his first movie role (according to IMDB), Barkhad Abdi was amazing to see on screen as the lead pirate Muse. Although cut-throat, the viewer can see his desperation to become a leader in his country and how failing this hijacking will, literally, be the end of his life.
The ending isn’t a secret for anyone who can Google the story of Captain Phillips, but I still won’t ruin it here (do your own homework). However, I can say that Tom Hanks will probably get an Oscar nomination for this role (and potentially for his other anticipated film Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks). The last thirty minutes of this thrilling film are enough for an Oscar win for him. I also think that Barkhad Abdi’s performance may earn him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Rating: Although the shaky cam in almost every scene can make one sea sick, this is a movie that should not be missed (9/10).
Recent Comments