Captain Phillips

I missed the real life events of this film as they played out. I remember the general story, but this particular event got muddled in with a host of other similar hostage situations so I couldn’t recall what had happened when the first trailer came out. As a result I can’t be sure how much of it is accurate and how much was changed to make the film more entertaining, in a harrowing and nerve shredding entertaining kind of way.

The story is fairly straight forward as it follows the hijacking of a cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, off the coast of Somalia by pirates. As this is a true story it is hard to judge what is a spoiler and what isn’t, but I will keep spoilers to a minimum as it was how I went into the film and it increased my enjoyment of the film.

This is easily one of Tom Hanks’ best performances in years and could quite easily earn him a nomination for Best Actor, if not the award when the envelope is opened. At first, Phillips isn’t completely likeable, he is gruff and demanding, clearly not well liked by his crew, but respected. It is when the pirates come that we see this part of his character break and we get a man who is doing his best to hold on, keep calm and protect his crew.

The greatest moments of the performance come in the lifeboat, where the majority of the second half takes place. As the tension inside begins to wrap up, Hanks really makes us see the desperation and the feel the hope slipping away scene by scene. You should be as scared as he is and he makes you feel every bit.

The camera in Captain Phillips is always moving, as in any Paul Greengrass film, for some this is an issue, purely because of their own tastes and preferences. With the exception of the early calm(er) section of the film, where I can see the argument that the camerawork is distracting, once we board the Alabama the camerawork gradually begins to reflect the situation and state of mind of those it’s looking at. During the hijacking, it is everywhere, moving quickly to take in everything that is happening. During the lifeboat scenes, it is up close and moving erratically as everyone struggles to retain not just their cool, but their sanity. Where as aboard the US Navy Ships, everything is steady and calm, despite the clear high stakes of a US citizen being taken hostage and slowly getting closer to the Somali coast.

The second lead performance of the film belongs to the leader of the pirates, Muse, played by Barkhad Abdi. He is at times equally utterly terrifying and strangely vulnerable as the pressure of the situation and the expectations of his people mount up. Like Hanks’ performances, the best moments come in the lifeboat as he has to deal with the US Navy, Phillips and his own crew starting to crack as their chances of success very quickly disappear.

Often a film will be described as nerve shredding, tense, etc, but never really gets to the heights you are thinking of. Captain Phillips is not one of those films, it goes off the normal scale of tense, this isn’t turned up to 11, it’s turned up to 100. I barely heard anyone in the cinema say a word throughout the entire run time, ever single person was engrossed. By the time the climax starts to ramp up, you are so focused on the events on the screen that any knowledge of what actually happened completely escapes your mind.

The easiest way I can describe how invested I was, is with something I noticed when I left the cinema. Normally when I get tense I pick at my beard, just clipping the end of hairs or pulling them out. In the light I saw that I had pretty much covered the top of my shirt with small bits of hair that I had picked.

. So basically, stop reading this review, right now. Get in your car, bus or boat and go to the nearest cinema and watch it 

Rush

I’m no racing fan of any kind, never have and all likelihood never will be, so my knowledge of F1 and its long history is very basic. The only time I have managed to follow a season was the end of the 2008 season and start of 2009 season during my time at University, which was down to my flat mate being a big fan and a regular watcher. So what I’m trying to say is. If I make a mistake with a technical term/name or have interpreted something incorrectly, it’s because I just don’t know.

Rush is set in the late 70’s through to 1986 and follows the rise of drivers, and eventual rivals James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) from Formula 3 up to the Formula 1. I’ll avoid spoilers much as I can, as I went into this film with very limited knowledge of these two men or their stories. Along the way we see how their similar privileged upbringings produced two very different men. One who was very loose and was willing to take risks in every aspect of his life and the other who was scientific and methodical in his.

The way this film is structured and plays out is very unlike most historical or biographical films, so much as it focuses on a relatively small portion of time and even then passes skips years to get us to the crucial and iconic season.

It also doesn’t focus specifically on either man, instead it jumps back and forth in sections from one to the other. The early focus is on Hunt, which sets the film up to be solely about him, before cutting to Lauda’s rise. Both are handled well and give us enough information and time with the characters so that when the big races come around we are invested in them both. Making you choose in effect who you want to see win each race.

Both performances are good, Hemsworth gives us a charming and likeable man who can seemingly do whatever he wants, can have any woman and has the support of rich friends. The good times are entertaining, but it is when his life starts to spiral downwards that Hemsworth gives us the more interesting side of the character. Dealing with excessive drinking and the break up of a marriage while trying to do his job.

Bruhls performance is oddly the more flashy and more likely to get recognition come awards season. There are more ticks and mannerisms to this performance than Hemsworths, and maybe that is accurate of the man himself. This is by no means is a criticism, as at times Lauda’s tinkering with cars and blunt comments are a enjoyable to watch as Hunts antics. Bruhls best moments come from the crash and beyond. The pain and obsession all feels real as he desperately tries to recover from a frankly horrific accident.

The biggest star of the film and the thing that kept me engrossed the most was the look and sound of the film. Never has the noise of gear changes, tires and engine movements sounded more exciting or captivating. I hope the cinema you see it in has their sound system as high as the one I saw it, other wise you would genuinely miss out and one the biggest and best parts of this film.

Rush is definitely a stand out film, especially considering the amount of films that are being released now. The awards seasons is starting to gear up, as is the horror surge we usually get in October and November. Don’t be put off by the racing elements of the story, go and enjoy an interesting movie.

Prisoners

A film about child abduction is hardly the most appealing of subject matters, as no matter how it is handled, there will always be something of an uncomfortable feeling about enjoying it, considering the real life consequences of this kind of situation. But whether or not this, or any other topic or subject matter is considered taboo or off limits, is something that should be decided by the individual and not a studio or focus group.

Prisoners, as mentioned earlier is about the abduction of two young girls from two families and what they do following the event. Each family reacts in different ways, which is shown through the actions of each father, one is proactive and tries to do everything he can while the other is passive and hopes that the police will find the girls. The other main character is the police detective who is tasked with finding the missing girls.

Prisoners did remind me of a few films of recent years, not necessarily in terms of plot or characters, but more in its tone and its structure. At times it doesn’t play by the normal rules of a thriller, it down plays its big thrills and doesn’t use music to build tension, instead it relies on its performances, in much of the same way that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Zero Dark Thirty did.

Tonally, it is a call back to some of David Finchers most recent films in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Zodiac, as there is a omnipresent sense of dread and hopelessness as the situation and weight of the characters choices bare down on them.

As I touched on earlier, this is a film driven by performances, and two in particular. Hugh Jackman as Keller, one of the fathers who has lost their daughter, and Detective Loki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Where most actors would choose to go big whenever they could, these two choose to tone it down and play it in a much more restrained and natural way.

While Jackman plays the emotional core of the film, as he struggles with the desperation to get his daughter back and come to terms with what he is willing to do to get her back. It is Loki who is by far the most interesting character we meet. Very much a loner who has the respect of his superiors and colleagues, but isn’t liked by them, it’s as though he needs to keep up his 100% record to validate himself and be able to fight his corner.

In his conversations with Jackman, which are the strongest of the film as you may expect, he offers the bare amount of sympathy he has to at the beginning, which then quickly deteriorates as the family start to interfere in his investigation and hinder his work. He fights back a desire to truly berate Keller on numerous occasion’s, it is a struggle that is rarely seen in crime films.

There are a few loose ends at the end of the film, I won’t go into detail, that  in a way undermine the brutal natural of the previous two hours as some consequences are ignored, while others are brought to the fore front. The one that is pushed to the front, in actuality needs to be pushed on the audience as they are asked to make their own conclusions about should happen to a certain character and if their actions are right, wrong or at least justifiable.

When awards season roles around I hope there is at least one category with someone from Prisoners in it. If I were to put money on it, it would be Jake Gyllenhaal in a supporting role.

It is a difficult subject matter to deal with, but one that is worth your time for questions it poses and that it offers up a mature adult based thriller, something we don’t get as often as we should. Whether it pushes the subject matter to far, or not far enough is up to you.

If a story about children being kidnapped doesn’t put you off immediately, then go and see this great film.