Excellent, Engaging and Entertaining

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 2014)

This is based upon a true story.
Commercial shipping seaman, Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) takes his ship, the Maersk Alabama, into the Somali Basin in the Pacific Ocean and wants to have the crew perform security drills in case Somali Pirates come around. Later the Maersk is boarded by the Somali Pirates and it's up to Captain Phillips to protect his crew and the cargo.
These days we see too many true stories, or stories inspired by true events made into movies and the key to an eventual good movie may be to wait things out until something happens. How much of these true or inspired by actual events movies are actually true we have no way of knowing. If we are entertained, we really don't care, do we? Well, the purists do, I suppose. But, this true story was reported via TV news, newspapers and magazines, worldwide and a book written, too, by Captain Phillips (A Captain's Duty), so we have some idea that most of what we see actually was true.
Whether most of what we see in here is true or not, this is an excellent, engaging and entertaining movie. The photography, dialogues, editing and acting performances were unbelievably good. This movie lived up to all the hype Hollywood put out.
Many reports of this incident said that Captain Phillips wanted to do security drills in case the Somali pirates showed up, but what we see in the beginning of this movie is that Captain Phillips was in the process of having those drills performed, BUT just a couple minutes into getting those drills ready, the Somali pirates show up. Okay, so maybe most of those drills were cut. We were waiting for the Somali pirates anyway.
You may ask why the Maersk crew didn't have guns to ward off the pirates. This wasn't addressed except for one conversation within the crew that some complained they didn't sign up to be a mercenaries. Still the owners of the Maersk knew the possible dangers. I thought some statement at the end of the movie would address this concern. Didn't happen.
One thing I didn't understand. Captain Phillips, at one point, gets away from the Pirates and goes into the water and didn't swim toward the Navy Destroyer and the pirates get him back. Did I miss something? You tell me. Or was this something that really didn't happen and poetic license ruled. Huh?
Yes, it's a good story, well performed by all, but it's the photography that really captures you. It is outstanding. Combine all that with the Editing and you have something really special.
The most exciting part of this is when the Somali Pirates take Captain Phillips hostage in the lifeboat and then it is here that we see the U.S. Navy and the Navy Seals come into play. You will be on the edge of your seat the whole time. Again, I cannot credit the photography too much. The photography and the Editing made this movie into something more than what we expected.
The movie is up for Best Picture and Tom Hanks is up for Best Actor and some of that may happen. I would go for Best Picture. (10/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Only a few S-Words and one GDI was heard.