Captain Phillips is the harrowing tale based on true events that transpired in 2009. Tom Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips aboard the cargo ship Maersk Alabama that is taken over by Somali pirates lead by Muse (Barkhad Abdi). According to Director Paul Greengrass, the film is "simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization".
Captain Phillips is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi who was apparently a limousine driver with no acting experience or aspirations of becoming an actor before landing this role. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Director Paul Greengrass is not nominated for Best Director and is best known for his shaky hand-held camera style of directing in the Jason Bourne Trilogy starring Matt Damon and for his post Iraqi search for weapons of mass destruction in Green Zone also starring Matt Damon. No, Damon does not make an appearance in Captain Phillips. Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor in Philadelphia and in Forrest Gump. Hanks is not nominated for an award in Captain Phillips, nor is he nominated for his leading role in Saving Mr. Banks, omissions that are raising eyebrows amongst movie-goers.
One quiet day at sea, Captain Phillips notices two small watercraft approaching his cargo ship quite rapidly. Uneasy about the situation, he calls it in to the Coast Guard who don't seem too concerned and believe the boats to simply be fisherman. Phillips alerts his crew and tells them to hide as he and his top assistants fail to keep the Somali pirates from boarding the ship. After failing to locate the rest of the crew, the pirates demand that those hiding on the ship reveal themselves or the Captain and other ranking officers will start being executed. Things get even more intense when the military arrives on the scene and the standoff escalates between Phillips and the pirates. Director Greengrass has done a great job directing action thriller movies in the Bourne Trilogy and also in directing politically moving work in Green Zone. This looks like another edge-of-your-seat thriller that leaves you asking, "Does this really happen?" Add that to what looks like another amazing performance by the talented Tom Hanks, and I predict Captain Phillips to get 3.5 stars: worth the money spent and has a decent chance of making it into my personal home movie collection. Am I right? We shall see.
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