Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips (2013)- Run time: 2h14min

Plot:

Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) is leading a container ship which gets taken over by a crew of Somali pirates who plan to hold the ship captive for a ransom. It's a true story based on the real hijacking of a U.S. ship in 2009. Captain Phillips tries to keep his crew safe while the Somali pirates hope for a large payout.

Review:

Let me preface this by saying I am a HUGE Tom Hanks fan and there is little this man does that I don't like. I went into this hoping to be entertained but not expecting much. I figured that most of the suspense was probably given away in the previews and was not expecting much more from the movie. I did know that it was based on a true story, although I don't remember hearing about it in the news at all back in 2009 when it took place. I also didn't realize the movie was over 2 hours long. Having said all that, I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie. Besides Tom Hanks as the title character, the only other face I recognized was that of Catherine Keener, who plays Captain Phillip's wife and gets about 5min of screen time (which is a shame because this woman can be great). This film was suspenseful from start to finish and I certainly did not feel like I was sitting there for over 2 hours - the time flew by. The action kicks off pretty quickly in this movie, which is great as many other 2+ hr movies take forever to get to the good stuff.

This movie did an excellent job of taking you through a range of emotions. At various points throughout the film I felt scared, angry, sympathetic, frustrated and a million other things I can't even describe. The relationship between Captain Phillips and the captain of the Sumali pirates is one built on false trust and survival. Each need something from the other in order to survive. As always, Tom Hanks was superb in his role of Captain Phillips - although I have to say his accent was really annoying - NO idea what part of the US he was supposed to be from! Aside from that, he put in a great performance, as did most of the cast. I also think the movie did a great job of keeping things realistic in terms of emotions, reactions and motives. There wasn't a "USA is the BEST" vibe from this movie at all - and the characters were all believeable. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie - it was better than I expected it to be, which is always a nice surprise!!

Rating 9/10 - it was better than expected, and it didn't feel nearly as long as it was. Having said that, it's not the kind of movie you are probably going to watch over and over. Definitely worth the watch though!