Everything I hoped for

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2013)

"Captain Phillips" is an exciting story of piracy. Its highlights include great acting by both principal actors (Hanks and Abdi), an incredibly intense showdown between two boats, and a strong ending.
The scene depicted in the trailers, with the skiff boarding the freighter, is one of the best individual scenes of 2013. It ratchets the intensity to such a high degree that it is somewhat disappointing that that scene is so early in the movie. Because everything after it seems slow paced by comparison.
Great exchanges between the two main actors. Tom Hanks was his typical greatness, even though this role was probably not juicy enough for an Oscar. Barkhad Abdi, despite never acting before, was also stellar. He looked and sounded the part perfectly.
The film lags a bit after the pirates take the captain hostage. That section of the film could probably be trimmed by 5 or 10 minutes without losing much. When watching it I became afraid that the one great scene from before would be the only highlight. I was proved wrong by the strong ending. I don't want to give away too much, but the last 10 minutes or so are the other highlight.
Pacing issues in the middle of the movie (the hostage part) is the only issue I have with Captain Phillips. It was an intense story of piracy. Every movie has a few parts that it needs to get right in order to be a good movie, and Captain Phillps gets a 10/10 for those parts. Its only issues are in the other, less significant, parts. I strongly recommend this film.