Intense - features a standout performance by Tom Hanks

Rating: 7/10 (7 November 2017)

Tom Hanks is terrific in the title role, playing the real life captain of the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship that was hijacked off the eastern coast of Africa by Somali pirates in April, 2009. Although the filmmakers changed some elements of the actual story to make Phillips appear more heroic - and less to blame for the incident - there is no doubt that he suffered greatly, physically and psychologically, during the ordeal. For days, Captain Phillips was the sole hostage of four volatile Somalis in an enclosed lifeboat; they hoped to receive millions of dollars in an exchange.
Director Paul Greengrass and editor Christopher Rouse (who received an Oscar nomination) did an excellent job of capturing the suffocating heat and cramped spaces of the lifeboat, while Hanks portrays a wide range of emotions, mostly without words. The actor's most powerful scene is the film's last, as Hanks perfectly affects a man in shock, mentally reliving the horror of his captivity while involuntarily sobbing in relief to be freed from it all.
Barkhad Abdi plays Muse, who dubbed Phillips "Irish", in an Academy Award nominated Best Supporting Actor performance. Muse struggled to keep his own crewmates under control while resisting the pressure exerted by the United States Navy. The situation was eventually resolved by SEAL Team 6 snipers, whose skills enabled them to simultaneously 'execute' the three remaining hijackers after Muse had been tricked into boarding the U.S.S. Bainbridge (a destroyer) for negotiations.
The movie was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, as was its Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Adapted Screenplay writer Billy Ray.