I went to the Insider preview of this movie last night and what an exhilarating experience it was.
IMDB describes the premise as: The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. The film is based on the novel A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea written by Captain Richard Phillips himself.
The movie starts quite slowly, taking a little too long in establishing the Captain Phillips character (I think the movie could have started once he boards the ship and still have established character well), though I am guessing this was decided so that it fit in time-wise with the Somali pirates backstory. It is when the ship is targeted that the movie really gets underway.
Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, The Green Mile) plays Captain Phillips in this Paul Greengrass (Green Zone, Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum) directed film and what an awe-inspiring performance he turns in. His acting pulls you along the rollercoaster ride that is the pirate hijack and you wonder at his calm quick thinking and absolute determination that he will protect his crew at all costs.
Newcomer Barkhad Abdi plays Muse the pirate captain and I predict great things for this actor, for even through all the bad decisions, you still feel a modicum of pity that he has to do such things. Also, Faysal Ahmed who plays Najee the youngest pirate, who you feel has just made the wrong choice and it is too late to turn back. No such feelings for Barkhad Abdirahman who plays Bilal though, he is thoroughly convincing as drug-fuelled and ruthless and to a certain extent, Mahat M. Ali who plays Elmi as all of the pirates are determined to earn as much money as they can under any means necessary. Their uncertainty and unpredictability give the real fear, a pirate with a gun is bad enough, but khat-fuelled young pirates who are not sure what they are doing, is definitely worse. All four newcomers are fantastic and I hope that this is the start of many roles to come.
David Warshofsky (Taken, Now You See Me) plays Mike Perry who takes the crew down to the engine room to hide them and Michael Chernus (The Bourne Legacy, Love & Other Drugs) plays Shane Murphy who also risks himself to save the crew. Corey Johnson (The Bourne Ultimatum, Kick Ass) plays Ken Quinn and Chris Mulkey (First Blood, Rainman) John Cronan. There is a brief turn from Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Into the Wild) as Andrea Phillips at the beginning of the film, Yul Vazquez (War of The Worlds, American Gangster) plays Captain Frank Castellano and Omar Berdouni (Body of Lies, The Kingdon) the negotiator. Max Martini (Pacific Rim, Saving Private Ryan) plays the scarily decisive SEAL Commander.
The movie ratchets up the tension to the point that you forget to breathe and all the while, you have in the back of your mind that this is inspired by what really happened. The emotion in the final act will crumble the hardest of you.
Tom has previously won the Oscar for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, but I would be amazed if this role does not secure him the hat trick.
Tagline: Out here survival is everything 8.5/10
#CaptainPhillips
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