Riveting real-life thriller with Tom Hanks at his best

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2014)

Not a lot hinges on whether you know the outcome of Captain Richard Phillips' true-life run-in with a small crew of Somali pirates in 2009, as, like director Paul Greengrass's other tale of real-life heroism in the face of a terrorist threat, United 93 (2006), the film gathers up enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat. It's not as good as United 93, as the film often struggles to keep things exciting in the long moments between the action, but Tom Hanks has more than enough presence to carry the film, and here gives possibly his best ever performance. Which makes it all the more surprising that Hanks - usually a darling with the Oscars with sentimental drivel such as Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994) - has missed out this year.
Captain Phillips (Hanks) is waved off at the airport by his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener in a one-scene cameo) as he flies to Oman to take command of the Maersk Alabama, that he soon realises will take him around the Somali Peninsula. Sure enough, on the Somali coast, they are chased by ambitious pirate Muse (Barkhad Abdi) in a skiff, with a crew consisting of hot-head Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman), nervous Najee (Faysal Ahmed) and young first-timer Elmi (Mahat M. Ali). They protect the ship for as long as they can, but the pirates are soon on board demanding payment. Phillips offers them $30,000, but it won't be enough for the ruthless warlords who employ Muse, so they take Phillips for ransom.
One of the main reasons why Captain Phillips works so well is that Phillips himself comes across as a true hero. Not a gun-toting, vest- wearing action hero, but an everyday guy who probably enjoys a comfortable suburban lifestyle with his family when he's not at sea. He's over middle-aged, slightly portly and not particularly handsome, but most importantly he's real, and a underdog to truly root for. In the time spent in the lifeboat as Muse and his crew head back to Somalia with their prize - with Navy SEALS in tow - allows Phillips and Muse time to slowly share experiences. Muse, fabulously portrayed by the Oscar-nominated Abdi, is a simple guy as well. It's just that in his country, poverty doesn't allow for any legal trades to be a wise option, so rather than plundering the sea for the fish that American ships have already hoovered up, they steal and kidnap.
But Greengrass is wise enough not to over-egg these scenes, or even allow us to sympathise too much with the pirates. But he allows us to understand them, to see things from their perspective. What they do is wrong and evil, yes, but when your country is governed by violent warlords and your life depended on coming back with something of real value, it's no surprise that they do what they do. And as the gravity of the situation dawns on the pirates, the film becomes a treadmill of heart-pounding small moments, where every second could either offer up a small opportunity for Phillips to escape or fight, or it could mean that he will never see his family again. Muse and his crew have done this before, but they are ill-equipped, desperate and twitchy.
As exciting as all those moments are, the film's most powerful scene is at the end, as Phillips breaks down whilst being medically treated by the American military. Up to this point, Phillips is kept at a distance, seeing very little of his true character before the pirates arrive. Hanks gives a devastating, improvised performance in this moment, as he struggles to process and comprehend the ordeal he has just been through. For an action film especially, this is an immensely powerful scene, and it re-enforces the human tragedy of the story. A riveting film overall, and proves again that Greengrass can't be matched in portraying a real- life incident with such heart, realism, and thrills.
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