Powerful storytelling

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2014)

'Captain Phillips' is an interesting little film. It's based on the true story of the real life Captain Phillips who was taken hostage by Somali pirates. The film portrays Phillips as a hero, but this has since come under dispute by people involved with the real life incident. Regardless of whether these claims are accurate or not Phillips story makes for a damn fine film.
It must be noted that director Paul Greengrass never goes over the top in portraying Phillips as hero. He's nothing remotely similar to the likes of Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard' or Clint Eastwood in 'Dirty Harry'. He's simply a man who finds himself in a terrible situation and acts accordingly and well. Even if the odd detail is touched up here or there to fit the film better I really don't see the issue. Any minor controversy really isn't warranted.
The acting is superb. Barkhad Abdi has received an Academy Award nomination for his performance and it's well deserved. The fact that this was his first ever acting performance is astonishing. He brought a realism to the role that I suspect many actors who had decades of experience under their belt would struggle to achieve. His story is quite truly inspiring. Tom Hanks on the other hand has been robbed of a nomination in my opinion. He was brilliant throughout, but in the final 20 minutes he delivers some of the highest quality of acting imaginable. His final scene is mesmerising. I feel if a scene or two earlier in the movie had been tweaked a touch, to give him more of a chance to shine, he would likely be there with a nomination next month as well.
It's a fascinating story, told in excellent style by Greengrass that deserves to be seen. It deserves its nomination for Best Picture but probably doesn't quite have the guns (pun intended) to take home the award. Hanks is usually pretty reliable when it comes to signing himself on to quality films and this is no exception.