"You're not just a fisherman!"

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2014)

All politics aside, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS has a gripping plot with excellent all-around acting and cinematography. The storyline is straightforwardly simple, without a lot of extraneous nonsense. Even though the audience already knows basically what will happen and how it will most likely wind up, there are a number of unexpected minor twists. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS also gives a very convincing portrayal of life on a modern U.S. freighter. Regardless of how faithful to the actual story it is--and there are always some changes in that area--I also like the fact that there are no unconvincing heroics (hair's-breadth rescues, etc) here, with a very believable and effective ending.
Some may not like the micro-view this film gives, without anything in the way of news flashes back home, the reactions of the crews' families after the hijacking of the ship, etc. That would, however, have detracted from the tension and forward motion of the film and unnecessarily complicated things. Still, a little more on what happens with the MV Maersk Alabama and the pirate mother-ship later in the story would have been a plus.