Captain Phillips
Director: Paul Greengrass
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 2.5
Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), captain of the Maersk Alabama, has his boat hijacked by Somali pirates and is eventually taken hostage, leaving the U.S. Navy to sail out and try to rescue him. The attempt at historical accuracy is commendable (though disputed by several people, including the crew of the ship), as is Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray's effort to parallel the lives of Hanks and that of the pirates (it subtitles their dialogue so they aren't viewed as merely 'the Other') ... though I really don't think one can draw a direct line between the life of a well-paid American sea captain who leads a comfortable existence and a Somalian living in extreme poverty. Still, the performances are what set this apart - particularly Barkhad Abdi and, of course, Hanks - and good enough to overlook Greengrass' penchant for intolerably shaky camerawork.
