Captain Phillips (2013), PG-13, 4 stars

Uh oh! Hanks is in trouble!

Paul Greengrass has established to become one of my favorite directors because he knows how to highlight action sequences so efficiently with a documentary feel. When The Bourne Supremacy came along, I thought that was a better sequel. When he made United 93, he made one of the most important movies ever made regarding the horrific day of 9/11 remembering the unsung heroes on board the plane. With The Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone, I thought, "Wow! Now, he's definitely a great director!" Now he has made this movie setting up a realistic character with traumatic peril while having conversations with the main terrorist.

The movie starts out with Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) gathering up his gear and essentials and he and his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), talk about changing times and effects on themselves and their children on their way to the airport. Andrea tells Phillips that everything will be all right and they hug and kiss while he heads inside the entrance of the airport building.

Meanwhile, Muse (Barkhad Abdi) and four other pirates are upset because the villagers are not giving them good provisions in order to pay their boss. So, the solution is to get on a boat and hijack a ship. Phillips boards the ship of the Alabama en route to Mombasa to deliver some cargo and he and his crew depart on their voyage.

Later in the film, Phillips sees two ships on their radar. One crew member tells him they may be just fishermen. Phillips says, "They are not here to fish." He and the crew fire big water hoses at the pirates to prevent them from boarding the ship, but, the plan does not work. Phillips spots the pirates and tells the crew to go to their stations. They fire onboard and they head to the bridge threatening Phillips and a few others. Muse calmly says that he is in charge now and they demand some money. Once a brave but dumb act is committed, Najee (Faysal Ahmed) and Muse threaten to kill the crew and demand money. But, the pirates take Phillips and the money and have him hostage.

Phillips is hoping to get rescued.

This movie, oh man!, provides such thrilling excitement throughout the movie that even if you know how the story ends, you're still on the edge of your seat. The best elements are the nuanced acting. I am impressed on how the movie is carried along with such great dialogue in a deep conversation between an enemy and a hostage. Muse has a boss to serve and Phillips says that everybody has bosses. Anyone can identify with that while working.

The action sequences are so precisely executed that it almost looked like I was watching Zero Dark Thirty again. Some NAVY seals are headed to take any action necessary to rescue Captain Phillips from the hostage situation. I do not really admire handheld camerawork or the camera shaking too much, but Greengrass is the only director who can probably do it well with a great intensity level on the action and story. The cinematography is quite excellent, too.

But, the movie really belongs to Tom Hanks. He is one actor that I admire a lot because he is just a normal guy in real life. He knows how to commit in a performance with such intensity and worrisome behavior. Even in the last 10 minutes, his performance comes alive with such realistic final emotions of sadness. This is one of his best performances of his career and he deserves an Oscar nomination. Also, Barkhad Abdi is really good as Muse, a truly terrifying skinny pirate that is doing his job, but not really know why he is performing this mission. I don't know if this will happen, but I hope that the Academy recognizes Abdi for his fine work. This is a superbly crafted and tense thriller. One of Greengrass' best and one of the best movies of the year.

****