Captain Phillips

Movie Name: Captain Phillips
Year of Release: 2013

Director: Paul Greengrass

Stars: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Michael Chernus, Corey Johnson, Chris Mulkey, Catherine Keener, Yul Vasquez, Max Martini

Genre: Drama, Suspense, Crime

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7

Synopsis:

Director Paul Greengrass is back, following "The Green Zone" which was released in 2010. His choices of directorial material are as always very coherent with his universe and with his style (witness "United 93", "The Bourne Ultimatum", "The Bourne Supremacy", "Bloody Sunday"). "Captain Phillips" follows the true story of the crew of the US MV Maersk Alabama freight ship, who are attacked by Somali pirates while navigating the coast of Africa. The crew smartly manages to deploy the situation, but their Captain is taken hostage on a small lifeboat. The US Navy and Seals are forced to intervene to try and resolve the situation.
Paul Greengrass is a director who always focuses his attention on depicting on screen events as realistically as possible. He also knows how to deftly build momentum and a sense of impending urgency and doom, which makes his films always riveting and thrilling. "Captain Phillips" is no exception - the film accompanies the process of the hijacking of the ship, and the ultimate kidnapping of the Captain almost in real time. The audience accompanies those individuals and is asked to embark on that little lifeboat and partake of the feeling of claustrophobia and fear that is created. The menace is presented in a very realistic way, as is the final part of the film, where the director stages the rescue attempts by the group of experts that are deployed. Tom Hanks is solid as the stoic and resourceful Captain, and the overall supporting group of actors depicting his kidnappers are equally strong in their performances. An overall entertaining film worth watching.