Perfection - don't expect any Oscars tho--it is too good for that

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2013)

A lesson in filmmaking excellence. When so many movies feel it necessary to lecture us about politics and/or the environment (Avatar), or try to Be Significant and Important (too many to mention, but can start with The Fifth Estate), what a blast of fresh air is Captain Phillips. What makes this film special is that everyone involved is primarily interested in telling a great, dramatic story and not with lecturing us on their own particular viewpoints. That said, there is plenty of rich subtext here about wealth, poverty, work, and other matters--this is not just empty action a la Michael Bay or even Blackhawk Down.
Director Greengrass has a gift for making us feel with his characters by dramatic action and gesture and not via empty dialogue. The 'villains' here are 3 dimensional--they have motives, fears and are not stupid. It is really nice to see black actors not being pandered to but rather represented as actual human beings with complex minds and emotions.
The true star of the movie is Tom Hanks, who I don't particularly like or dislike. But here, his acting is on another level. I do not know how he is able to convey multiple emotions with a single glance--fear, scheming and pity all at once. If you are not either in tears or on the border of tears at the end, then you may not be human.
Taste is taste and cannot be explained, but some critics find themselves in a quandary here. This movie does not exalt the military--it only presents the facts (perhaps dramatized of course). But we are so used to seeing the military demonized that many critics don't know how to react. The same is true of the Somali's here--again, we're used to seeing Africans being pandered to, to non-Africans vilified and blamed for all matter of things (slavery, imperialism, the high crime rate, you name it). Here, the Somali's are presented as they are--poverty stricken, desperate, and struggling. When we see their small boat up against a huge shipping freighter, this speaks volumes without saying a word. Of course what they do is wrong, but it is hard not to understand why they do it.
All that said, this movie works just as plain old action/drama. It belongs up there with films like Deliverance, Goodfellas, the Godfather- -movies with action, bite and substance. And Hanks delivers a performance that is really remarkable.
I suspect this movie will be ignored come Oscar time. Because while it will certainly be the best movie of the past 5 or next 5 years, it does not follow any particular political belief nor espouse anything at all. And for Hollywood, you'd better engage in Groupthink if you want an Oscar.