Gripping

Rating: 8/10 (7 November 2013)

Richard Phillips is the skipper of a container ship, en route from Oman to Kenya when it is attacked by Somalian pirates. What follows is Phillips' struggle to protect his crew, his ship and himself.
This is a true story, and is filmed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Identity) in verite mode. It is exciting and suspenseful, and blessed with several terrific performances. Barkhad Abdi as Muse, the pirate leader, is sympathetic and nuanced, far from stereotypical, and Faysal Ahmed as Najee is pleasingly and believably batsh!t crazy - stereotypical, but rightly so.
Tom Hanks (here playing Phillips) has founded a career on playing audience identification everymen, albeit he sometimes steps outsides his comfort zone. On one such occasion, Oscar came knocking. For me, Forrest Gump was a role of treacly obviousness, with one shining moment of heartbreaking reality when Forrest wonders if his son is likewise less than normal. Captain Phillips is an everyman but, towards the end, Hanks pulls something special out of the bag, and makes us remember why he has two Oscars.
This is a good movie - I enjoyed it, and I recommend it.