Rated
PG-13 (Sustained Intense Sequences of Menace, Some Violence with Bloody Images,
and for Substance Use)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 14 Minutes
Cast-
Tom
Hanks-Captain Richard Phillips
Catherine
Keener-Andrea Phillips
Michael
Chernus-Shane Murphy
Barkhad
Abdi-Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse
Barkhad
Abdirahman-Bilal
Faysal
Ahmed-Najee
Mahat
M. Ali-Elmi
David
Warshofsky-Mike Perry
Corey
Johnson-Ken Quinn
Chris
Mulkey-John Cronan
Yul
Vazquez-Captain Frank Castellano
Max
Martini-SEAL Commander
Omar
Berdouni-Nemo
Mohamed
Ali-Asad
Issak
Farah Samatar-Hufan
Directed
by Paul Greengrass
 |
| Tom Hanks delivers his best performance since 2000's "Cast Away" in Paul Greengrass' intense thriller/docudrama "Captain Phillips." |
Note: Screened on Thursday, September 12, 2013 at Regal Union Square Stadium 14.
Desperate
men are the most dangerous men. When four Somali pirates, led by Abduwali Abdukhadir
Muse, forcibly boarded the merchant vessel Maersk
Alabama on April 8, 2009, their plan was to hold the ship for millions of
dollars in ransom money but boiling down their motivations to pure simple greed
means willingly ignoring the circumstances that drove them to commit such an act
in the first place. Already decimated by civil war due to the collapse of its
military dictatorship in 1991, Somalia was hit with an influx of illegal fishing
at the same time. Tightened regulations from the EU forced foreign trawlers to
seek new hunting grounds and with their livelihood now at stake, Somali
fishermen decided to take up arms and hijack ships for ransom as a source of
income. The involvement of local warlords, who were truly driven by greed,
eventually transformed piracy into a lucrative and global criminal enterprise.
These are facts that the media all too often 'conveniently' leave out because
it's simply easier to paint men like Muse as violent thugs. Director Paul Greengrass'
latest film, "Captain Phillips," could've taken the lazy route and demonized
Muse and his men but fortunately, it doesn't. No one will dispute that their actions
were wrong; however, they are also very much victims of circumstance. This
well-rounded approach is just one of many things that Greengrass and writer
Billy Ray get right in bringing the 2009 Maersk
Alabama hijacking to the big screen. Aided by a powerful performance from
Tom Hanks, "Captain Phillips" is a thoroughly absorbing, tense, and
emotionally harrowing thriller/docudrama that will literally leave you breathless.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this grueling real-life tale of survival
also ranks as one of the best films of the year, with Hanks guaranteed an Academy
Award nomination for Best Actor.
March
2009. Merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) wakes up at his
home in Vermont and prepares for his latest assignment—a journey around the
Horn of Africa. During the drive to the airport, Richard and his wife Andrea (Catherine
Keener) ponder the future and wonder how to get their son Daniel to take school
more seriously. Despite her husband's increasingly perilous job which keeps him
away from home for months at a time, Andrea reaffirms that everything will turn
out fine in the long run and says her good-byes. Meanwhile at Eyl, Somalia, Abduwali
Abdukhadir Muse (Barkhad Abdi) is awakened with news that the local warlord is
seeking to enlist men for piracy missions. Muse is chosen to lead a crew and handpicks
Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman), Elmi (Mahat M. Ali), and Najee (Faysal Ahmed) as
his followers. As Muse and his men set out to hijack any foreign cargo ships that
come their way, Phillips arrives at port in Salalah, Oman, where he takes command
of the MV Maersk Alabama. Loaded with
over 2400 tons of commercial cargo, food aid, and more, the ship disembarks and
heads toward its destination, Mombasa, Kenya. The trip takes them through the
Somali basin, prompting Phillips to order his first mate, Shane Murphy (Michael
Chernus), to tighten security measures. In spite of the crew's best efforts, four
Somali pirates, led by Muse, succeed in boarding the vessel in the hopes of
collecting millions of dollars in ransom money. When that doesn't work out, Muse
and his men flee in a lifeboat but not before taking Phillips as their hostage.
Adapted
by writer Billy Ray from Richard Phillips' own book (A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea),
"Captain Phillips" is a riveting docudrama from beginning-to-end, one
that brings new meaning to the word 'nail-biter.' Much like Alfonso Cuarón's
"Gravity," director Paul Greengrass strove to create a strong sense
of verisimilitude in the production and he decided right from the start to
shoot almost 75% of the picture on open water. Cuarón's biggest obstacle was accurately
recreating the sensation of being in space and he accomplished this by using
the latest technologies in a creative and innovative manner. For Greengrass,
the challenge was logistical and I came away really impressed given the infamous
difficulties of shooting at sea (Remember 1995's "Waterworld"?), an
issue that would also be compounded by the extremely claustrophobic
environments the film's crew had to work in. When it comes to depicting a real-life
event with as much veracity as possible on the big screen, Greengrass is nearly
unmatched. I would say his only equal is Kathryn Bigelow. The meticulous way he
handles the material not only enhances the realness
of what's happening on-screen in the eye of the viewer but heightens the drama as
well. It's what made 2006's "United 93" a great film and it's the same
reason for "Captain Phillips."
Basing
your film on a true story, especially a recent one, has always been a risky endeavor
because how it all ends is already known. Despite this disadvantage, Greengrass
has managed to create a film that's immensely gripping and not once does the pacing
ever drag. The opening minutes of "Captain Phillips" establishes the
titular merchant mariner as a normal, everyday blue collar worker whose job unfortunately
takes him away from his family a lot. The following scene introduces Muse, who
is dressed in dirty rags and lives in squalid conditions in Eyl, Somalia. For
him, piracy is the only type of work he can do, and its work that other poor Somalis
are desperate to partake in. For these people, it's their livelihood. It doesn't
take long for the Maersk Alabama to
encounter the pirates, kicking the film into high gear. The intensity of this
initial meeting has to be experienced, with Phillips ordering his chief engineer
to 'goose' the ship's engines, churning out large waves in an attempt to disable
the pirates' skiffs. To confuse them further, Phillips even engages in a clever
bit of trickery by pretending to communicate with a Navy warship on his radio.
However, these tactics only offer a brief respite as Muse and his men come barreling
toward the cargo ship at full speed the very next morning. You know that
they'll eventually board the vessel but the kinetic editing from Christopher Rouse,
combined with Henry Jackman's moody score, create an edge-of-your-seat moment as
Phillips desperately tries to deter the pirates using high-pressure hoses. Alas,
they finally invade the ship. The tension slows to a simmering boil here, with
Phillips and his crew thinking quickly on their feet and trying to outsmart Muse
by using their knowledge of the ship's interiors to their advantage. The courage
and heroism of the Maersk Alabama's
crew is presented in a matter-of-fact manner. In their own eyes, they aren't
even heroes; they were just doing their job and trying to survive a life-and-death
situation.
The
tension ratchets up again when Muse and his men forcibly take Phillips hostage and
escape on a lifeboat. From there, it's a David vs. Goliath scenario as three Navy
warships arrive on the scene, trailing the tiny ship and coordinating a rescue effort
before one of the pirates harm or kills the captain. It's really a testament to
Greengrass' skill that he's able to maintain this kind of slow-burn, claustrophobic
tension for over an hour and the emotional release that comes at the end will assuredly
leave many audience members on the verge of tears. While "Captain Phillips"
is first and foremost a tale of survival, it's also a tale of desperate men
committing desperate acts. Billy Ray's script goes to great lengths to humanize
Muse and his men but make no mistake, it doesn't excuse their actions. It also presents
a darker side to globalization, resulting in a world of deeply ingrained
economic disparity that produces men like Muse. We may celebrate the might of
the American military for defusing situations like this yet it fails to address
the real heart of the problem. This is a cycle that's unfortunately doomed to
continue in one form or another—the age-old battle of the haves of the global
economy versus the have-nots.
As
the titular Captain Phillips, Tom Hanks delivers an absolutely incredible performance;
it's his best work since 2000's "Cast Away." The veteran actor exudes
a commanding, no-nonsense presence and keeps his cool once the pirates take
over the ship but there's always a palpable fear in his eyes, a fear that boils
over during the film's emotionally-charged finale. It could've easily devolved
into cheap sentimentalism yet Hanks remains completely authentic here, conveying
a raw honesty within an Average Joe who was just smart enough to survive. Even
more impressive is newcomer Barkhad Abdi as lead Somali pirate Muse. The realness
in Abdi's performance goes beyond physical appearance, with the inexperienced
actor exhibiting a range of emotions from ruthlessness, to desperation, to even
regret. In spite of his menacing demeanor, Muse remains a very human character due
to the way Abdi fully disappears into the role. To hold his own against a
two-time Academy Award-winning actor is truly amazing and I'll even go so far
as to say he deserves a Supporting Actor nomination. The other three pirates,
played by first-timers Barkhad Abdirahman, Mahat M. Ali, and Faysal Ahmed, are
great as well, if perhaps one-note. Only Abdirahman's Bilal comes closest to being
as fully developed as Muse, playing a teenage Somali who's overwhelmed and
ill-equipped to handle such an intense situation.
To
be released on October 11, 2013, "Captain Phillips" has received
positive reviews so far with 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. I saw the film ahead of
its official premiere at the 51st New York Film Festival and security was
incredibly tight. I felt like I was back at JFK airport and was fully ready to
start emptying all my pockets! Greengrass has certainly crafted an excellent
film but the bigger question remains: will people actually go see it? Sony's
marketing campaign has been pretty aggressive so a weekend debut of $20 to $25
million isn't too far from the realm of possibility. From there, it'll have to rely
on positive word-of-mouth and awards buzz to get to $100 million. Once again displaying
a natural talent in bringing nail-biting drama to real-life events, Paul
Greengrass' "Captain Phillips" grabs you in a vice grip from the beginning
and doesn't let go until the very end. This is a meticulous, visceral film
that's breathlessly told. As IGN's Matt Patches so eloquently puts it, this
isn't 'so much a movie you watch as a movie you survive.'
Final
Rating: 5 out of 5
"Look
at me, look at me. I'm the captain now."
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