Skip to main content

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.

****


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2015 Documentaries

I have only seen 6 documentaries this year which also includes Amy and I Am Chris Farley . But, I have to be honest, this has not been a particularly strong year for documentaries except for onethat got me emotionally and mentally as what I examine for when they uncover the truth or some facts from the people involved in these documentaries. But, here are the four I have seen this year: Listen To Me Marlon, Unrated, 4 stars This is the most insightful documentary of the year as we only hear Marlon Brando narrating his life and experiences what he has gone through regarding his family, his private life and his film experiences regarding The Godfather , Apocalypse Now , Last Tango in Paris , etc. It is like Marlon Brando came out of his grave to give us another profoundly moving movie only we hear his voice and scenery and nothing else. The Look of Silence, R, 3.5 stars Joshua Oppenheimer's follow-up documentary is a light-hearted but still-disturbing film regarding a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Daddy's Home 2 (2017), PG-13, ★1/2

The first Daddy's Home was surprisingly a financial success as I thought it was not as bad as many people thought. I thought it was a solid cable watch because it had enough laughs for that sort of mixed recommendation. I was not craving for a sequel for this movie because again, comedy sequels have a very bad record, however, the only difference is that it is not too late since the first movie came out a few years ago. But, this sequel is a reminder as to why we do not need a sequel to a hit comedy because this is a pretty much forgettable comedy, especially a holiday comedy...which I hade a guilty pleasure for. This did not work for me. Brad and Dusty (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) have become friends after the events of the first film and they set up a co-dad system where their two children, Megan and Dylan, spending time at each father's home. Dusty has re-married to writer Karen (Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio) and he is step-dad to Adrianna, Karen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), R, 4 stars

The stockbrokers worshipping Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) like a god. Wall Street. The clients, the adrenaline, the stocks, the money, the power, and the decadence. The former three pertains to the man's job, but the latter three pertains what any stockbroker wants in order to have the freedom to do whatever they want with the client's money. As Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) would say, "The name of the game is: move the money from your client's pocket into your pocket." We basically spend three hours seeing all of these Wall-Street scumbags steal the clients' money into their own pockets and spend it on booze, drugs, women, and other insane things in more insane activities. I have witnessed here is a great movie that I would not watch repetitively. The movie starts with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) blowing cocaine onto a hooker's butt and he and his brokers throwing a little person onto a board with a dollar sign in the center. It'...
Post a Comment
Read more