Captain Phillips Review - No spoilers

Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman
Director: Paul Greengrass
Genre: True story, action, drama
Running time: 134 minutes

The first thing to mention about Captain Phillips is that it is gripping; the second is that it is long. Now this is something of a personal bugbear. Films are getting increasingly long, and what would have been an entertaining 90 minute film in the 1980s has become an epic of three hours in the present. Enough already, movies are too long. However, the fact that Captain Phillips didn't feel lengthy is a true testament to how well the film has been made. In fact, with this movie the time flew. The engrossing plot was enough to keep everyone on the edge of their seat and the tension could be felt throughout the room. Familiar or not with the actual events, this film is riveting.

Based on the true life story surrounding the 2009 capture of a U.S. cargo ship by Somali pirates, this movie tells the story of the boat’s captain, Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and his efforts to protect his ship, crew and his own life. It sees an interesting and unexpectedly balanced view of both Captain Phillips and the pirates, and in particular the focus on the pirate captain Muse (Barkhad Abdi) and the relationship between Muse and Phillips is fascinating and thought-provoking. In all, the film remains intriguing to the last second.

Tom Hanks is at his best with a moving and wholly absorbing performance. If there is any criticism it is that at the beginning of the film the dialogue felt slightly stilted, particularly between Phillips and his wife (Catherine Keener). Furthermore there was not much characterisation, but the likeability of Hanks solves many of the problems of the movie. Moreover, the excellent performances of Abdi and Abdirahman as the Somali pirates gave depth, believability and credence to characters that easily could have been demonized and one dimensional, and this is where the core of the movie lies. In particular, the way in which the pirates are introduced gives a background to the characters and hints towards some of the desperate economic situations that lead ordinary people into criminality. This lends a weight to the film and an unexpectedly balanced perspective regarding the complex problem of piracy.

On a visual level the film is well shot and smoothly directed. The hand-held-style camera movement, so common in Greengrass’s direction (e.g. The Bourne Ultimatum and The Bourne Supremacy) was subtle enough not to cause nausea, and added a frenetic energy that created action in a quite static film (there is only so far you can travel inside a boat.) The action here is through threat and psychology, and it is a triumph of its cast and crew.

Given the option to go and see this film, based upon the basic plot and trailer, it would not have been a first choice, but to miss it would have been to miss out. Unexpectedly good and edge of the seat stuff.

Four stars – tense, gripping and moving. Well worth the price of a ticket.

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