Spellbinding

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2014)

Exhilaration and suspense are the general orders of the day. From stem to stern, Tom Hanks' performance skillfully steered this thriller through a gauntlet of anxiety, continually cudgeling the viewer with twists and turns. The perpetual to-and-fro between Captain Philips and Muse (Barkhad Abdi) are brilliantly orchestrated. Understood, the pirate leader is caught between a rock and a hard place. Let me see – should I cry for him and his crew? Are you out of your freaking mind? I am happy to say that very little sympathy is afforded this nautical terrorist and his cadre of cut-throats. Kudos to Paul Greengrass for not falling victim to the tempting Hollywood practice of elevating the immoral while, at the same time, condemning the moral – well done. To those who seek excuse for these corsairs, might as well recast history one step farther and rethink the wisdom of Nuremburg. What is wrong is wrong. Is the movie over-the-top? Who knows – who cares – it was a quality movie and good entertainment. I can only watch it once but I do recommend it to others.