Victory at Sea

Rating: 10/10 (16 October 2013)

This film is highly recommended.
The talented director, Paul Greengrass, has successfully tackled the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and his 2009 ordeal in the new docudrama, Captain Phillips. The film tells the harrowing story of Somali pirates, armed with automatic weapons, boarding and hijacking an unarmed American cargo ship and holding its crew at ransom.
The director's trademark pseudo-real, in-your-face photography is front and center with his jittery hand-held camera-work and multiple close-ups used to build the tension of a hostage situation, a technique that he used so famously in United 93 and two of the Bourne installments. Using a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking, there is a quasi-documentary approach to the story which works so effectively in this film.
The script by Billy Ray tries to present both of of the hijacking. He shrewdly begins his narrative with some background scenes of Phillips' typical ordinary day with his wife (an underused Catherine Keener) in his suburban community and contrasts that with the squalor and poor living conditions of a Somali village, where the desperate men are forced into making a criminal choice, all this prior to the violent act that will bring both parties together.
Desperation is the running theme in Captain Phillips. Men with no hope and no options, forced into illegal acts of brutality. An innocent man placed into a life-and-death waiting game. The results between these two dissimilar types are catastrophic as we watch the battle of captor and captives unfold.
Casting is foremost if we are to believe in this situation, and Greengrass has done a exemplary job by having Tom Hanks in the title role. This is one of Hanks' best performances ever. He plays this Everyman with an earnestness and directness, trying to outwit his kidnappers one moment and sensitively understanding their plight, although the character, as written, seems a bit too heroic and courageous at times. The actor underplays the fear and carefully sidesteps the selflessness of Phillips, making him less virtuous and more human. Hanks' definitive final scene packs the emotional wallop needed to register to the audience that this is a common man placed in unusual peril, not a superhero. The lingering aftermath of this traumatic nightmare and the film's parting image of Hanks is highly emotional and gut-wrenching, distilling all of his bottled-up anguish and misery into one memorable scene.
As Muse, the Somali leader of the kidnappers, Barkhad Abdi (in his first acting role), brings the perfect degree of menace and tragedy to his character. His physical leanness and intense stare only adds to the suspense and the overall horror of this terroristic act. Playing the hijackers are Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysai Ahmed, and Mahat M. Ali, all of which bring major support to their characters and their volatile relationships.
Unlike most films today, Captain Phillips is more substance than style, sans gimmicks and intrusive visual sleight of hand. The film is an old fashion drama (and I mean that in the best sense), well-crafted and sensitively told, with strong narrative drive, superb direction, and a commanding performance by Hanks as Captain Phillips. This is a great film. GRADE: A-
ANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: jadepietro@rcn.com