A solid thriller which explores both sides.

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2014)

The debate on the effects of globalisation is increasingly becoming an issue as time goes on, and while this is not a film about globalisation, it is certainly something which highlights the effects without being too overbearing about it.
Tom Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips, who is in charge of a container vessel delivering aid somewhere in the African continent. While crossing the Somali waters alone and unarmed, they are pursued by Somali pirates led by Muse (Barkhad Abdi) who intends to board the ship and hold them to ransom. After what is a rather thrilling chase, they board the ship and make their demands through Captain Phillips. After much deliberation, the pirates are given the money in their safe amounting to $30000. When the pirates leave in the lifeboat, they take Captain Phillips hostage as Muse makes demands for more money, which gets the American Navy involved.
Director Paul Greengrass handles the film well. He succeeds in telling the story very clearly from many vantage points. We see the points of view of Captain Phillips and the key members of the crew, the pirates and the Navy. The cinematography reflects the frantic situation experienced from all these vantage points with the use of hand-held camera. The editing is fast paced and shows us the full story so the audience is never lost. As mentioned before, the main theme of globalisation is hinted at. At the start of the film, Captain Phillips is having a conversation with his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener) about his concerns of the increasingly competitive nature of the job market and how much more difficult it is for this generation in comparison to how it was in his day. Also later on in the film, Muse explains how he was a fisherman before he became a pirate. When corporations took all the fish from Somali waters, there was no alternative but to resort to crime for survival. It gets more interesting when Muse starts to loose his grip on reality. It seems to me that over the years, his demands have increased in proportion with his ambition of living a more Western lifestyle. He wants enough money to escape his impoverished nation. Of course, as the Navy are executing a perfectly planned operation to rescue Captain Phillips and making the situation more hopeless for the pirates, Muse continues to believe he is winning and that he is going to accomplish what he has demanded.
There is also the whole irony of how the pirates are hi-jacking a vessel which contains food and water help will help their people. The reason why aid is sent to these countries in the first place is because of globalisation, which is also the reason why these men take to the sea to rob American ships. For me, it explains the hopeless cycle of greed and crime, two integral benefactors of globalisation. While we make efforts to help the countries most effected, it is doing very little unless this cycle is eradicated.
The performances are very competent by the two leads. Tom Hanks as usual puts on a very solid performance. He pulls out more of his acting chops in the final half hour of the film. There were moments when I thought he would say something like 'You can't kill me, I have a FAMILY..I HAVE KIDS!' Fortunately, Paul Greengrass refuses to yield to this kind of cheesy sentimentality, instead opting for more human performances. Barkhad Abdi I feel had the most memorable role. I liked the fact that the pirates/terrorists were portrayed as desperate human beings resorting to crime rather than monsters which so many stupid action movies stoop so low by contributing to the continuity of this ridiculous narrative that the West are victims of an evil ideology hell bent on taking over the world.
Captain Phillips is a solid, well made film which reflects these times without rubbing it in your face. It is not set to be a classic, but a thrilling watch all the same.