The fact that it's true that makes the film even more unbelievable, supplementing the experience of the film rather than causing it...

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 2014)

The second Paul Greengrass review I've written today, and it's odd how two of his films, "United 93" and "Captain Phillips", can be so similar in some respects, and yet so original and different in others. Both films are ultra-realistic and emotionally charged, telling stories of real events. However they both have so much merit to them for different things. One of the things Greengrass does best, especially here, is making you care about the story itself, the performances you're watching, and not the fact that it is a true story. It is the fact that it's true that makes the film even more unbelievable, supplementing the experience of the film rather than causing it.
"Captain Phillips" tells the story of Richard Phillips, played by Tom Hanks, and how the container ship that he manned was hijacked by Somali pirates. You are shown the character of Phillips in great detail beforehand, especially his keenness on safety and following things by the book. When the pirates eventually manage to come on board in what is a heart-in-mouth sequence, Hanks is at his very best, managing to carry across both a large amount of fear and an attempt to seem calm. It is simply baffling that Hanks didn't get a Best Actor nomination for this, since he is consistently brilliant throughout, most of all in the very cathartic final scene where he breaks down during his medical.
The brilliance of the film comes through two things: you constantly feel like you're in the midst of all of the action and, despite the fact that you know how it's going to end, you have no idea how it's going to get there. When the pirates, played extremely convincingly by mostly first-time actors, are about to leave the ship, it feels like the film's about to end, and it could have there. I was incredibly glad that it didn't, since the second half is even more white-knuckle than the first. The claustrophobic confines of the lifeboat are terrifying, and you're constantly trying to figure out how Hanks is going to escape. The answer to this is through Navy SEALs, and a second fantastic sequence takes place during the final rescue attempt.
As always, Greengrass doesn't glamourise the events at all, and a lot of it is thrilling, gory and hard to watch. The original story of Phillips wasn't covered as widely in the UK, so I was fairly unfamiliar with it. It doesn't matter that it's true, and that's the real success of the film. You care about the characters there and then and are constantly in the moment, rather than considering the time that it actually happened.