Thrilling and Gripping

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2014)

Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy fame) has directed two films on important historic events, "Bloody Sunday" and "United 93." "Captain Phillips" is also based on a real story (a kind of story which you would likely read in Reader's Digest under drama in real life section) where an American cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates and the captain is held hostage.
The film on a whole captures the action sequences familiar from regular Hollywood movies and is overlong, which somewhat loses the impact of the film. Besides, the film somewhat lacks the novelty of 'United 93" in filming the events or narrating the story and isn't very different from the regular movies. Despite the over length and the familiar premises of action, the film is thrilling, gripping, and exhausting. Tom Hanks as usual makes a remarkable performance through his wit trying to deal with the pirates and save his crew. In the climax, he just excels and makes you numb. I'm a little shaky about the film's or director's chances of getting an Oscar as story wise, the film is doesn't go beyond normal; but Tom Hanks surely is a deserving nominee for best actor this year. Had the film been trimmed a bit, the film would have been a very tight thriller of the year. On a whole, I liked the film and I'm sure you would find it entertaining.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 4