Intense

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2014)

This was one of those films I watched without having a clue of what happens in it. I knew it was called 'Captain Phillips', I knew Tom Hanks was starring in it, that's it. I hadn't heard of the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking and had no clue what the movie was about.
I urge anybody to watch movies this way, especially good ones. It makes the whole experience much more interesting and surprising.
For those of you that don't want to watch the movie this way and would like some plot details, here we go;
'Captain Phillips', is about the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship by Somali pirates, and the efforts of the ship's captain to keep the crew safe while attempting to reason with the pirates. As you can probably anticipate, the situation escalates.
I won't give you any more details than that, other than what follows is emotional, tense and absolutely gripping. The greatest part of the movie is the acting, Tom Hanks is exceptional as the eponymous hero, the final scene in particular was one of the greatest performances I have ever seen from him.
But the BAFTA award winning Barkhad Abdi (a real Somali actor playing a the pirate ringleader) deserves just as much credit. His performance does that beautiful and rare thing of creating a character that morphs throughout the film, as the situation around him changes.
It is a testament to Abdi's performance to portray a opportunistic criminal without an ability to speak much English and still feel like he is just as much a victim as Captain Phillips and his crew.
The over-used shaky camera work is here in abundance, but it seems we must accept it as an inevitability at this point. The film as a whole is nerve shredding and brilliantly made, and only falls short of being top of the Oscar heap by focusing on only a few aspects of the logistics and emotions behind all the people involved and affected by the hijacking.
Less talented actors would have made this a merely enjoyable film. The cinematography is good, but not as good as in '12 Years A Slave'. The script is good, but not as good as 'American Hustle'.
A strange example of a film that is as good as it ever could be. The situation is interesting but not mind-blowing enough to make it into a classic, but I encourage anyone to watch just for the incredible performances from Hanks and Abdi. I will be interested in seeing what is next for his career.