Intense Real-Life Thriller

Rating: 7/10 (11 October 2013)

I saw "Captain Phillips", starring Tom Hanks-Cloud Atlas, Turner & Hooch; Barkhad Abdi-this is his first movie; Catherine Keener-Where the Wild Things Are, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Max Martini-Pacific Rim, The Unit-t.v.
This is based on the true story of the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years. It takes place in 2009, off the coast of Africa, with the hijackers being Somalian pirates. Tom is the American merchant captain of the ship that is targeted by Barkhad and his buddies. The ship does not carry any weapons, either personal or otherwise, so they are easy targets. Catherine has a small role as Tom's wife and Max is the leader of the SEAL team that is called in to handle the situation. Even though I knew the outcome of the tense drama-I remember the story in the news-it was still an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Both Tom and the newcomer Barkhad gave great performances and I can see Oscar nominations for the two of them. It's rated "PG-13" for violence and drug use and has a running time of 2 hours & 14 minutes. I liked it enough that I would buy it on DVD.