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
