Captain Phillips
BBBB
(out of 5)
A freighter off the shores of Somalia is overtaken by armed pirates in this fact-based story starring a superb Tom Hanks as the titular leader of the vessel. Paul Greengrass directs a tense action thriller that begins with a routine job assignment as Hanks leaves wife Catherine Keener (in an inexplicable cameo) to fly to Africa where he will board his ship. Piracy off the coast of Somalia is not an unknown occurrence at this point, so he is immediately suspicious when two fishing boats approach his vessel at high speed and even less surprised when, at close glance, they turn out to be armed. The unwelcome guests who come aboard are led by a charismatic, determined man (Barkhad Abdi, who is marvelous) who means business and doesn’t play games with our hero. Hanks, meanwhile, stows his crew in a low level of the ship in the hopes that they won’t be found, hoping to appease the villains with whatever is in the ship safe and avoid anyone getting harmed. Released not long after the excellent A Hijacking by Tobias Lindholm, this one is not quite as tense, but it is also not the indulgence in Air Force One heroics that its promotional material might suggest. Hanks begins and ends the movie as an ordinary man, and the nuance with which he does it, from the desperation to keep order to the heartbreaking release at the conclusion of the ordeal, is what the film wisely relies on for much of its energy. Paul Greengrass, in his awareness of how familiar we are with his Spartan editing style and hand-held intensity, wisely avoids pushing everything to maximum climax every chance he gets, rather making a film that is far more interesting for its process than for any kind of roller coaster excitement. The attempts to play fair by giving the criminals back stories (to avoid accusations of racist finger-pointing) are not fully successful, particularly as Greengrass is trying his best to make an apolitical film that is highly political in content: making a film with obvious good guys and bad guys, but showing us that the bad guys are people from a woeful lack of privilege compared to their opponents, is not going to mitigate the cushy American point of view that will bother many viewers. That said, it’s a solid drama with much to recommend it.
Scott Rudin Productions, Michael De Luca Productions, Trigger Street Productions
USA, 2013
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Screenplay by Billy Ray, based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days At Sea by Richard Phillips, Stephan Talty
Cinematography by Barry Ackroyd
Produced by Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin
Music by Henry Jackman
Production Design by Paul Kirby
Costume Design by Mark Bridges
Film Editing by Christopher Rouse
Cast Tags: Abdurazak Ahmed Adan, Adam Wendling, Amr El-Bayoumi, Angus MacInnes, Azeez Mohammed, Bader Choukouko,Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Billy Jenkins, Catherine Keener, Chris Mulkey, Christopher Stadulis, Corey Johnson,Dale McClellan, Dave Meadows, David Warshofsky, David Webber, Dean Franchuk, Duran Mohamed Hassan, Faysal Ahmed, Hugh Middleton, Ian Ralph, Idurus Shiish, Issak Farah Samatar, John Patrick Barry, Kadz Souleiman, Kapil Arun, Kristian Hjordt Beck, Kurt Larsen, Len Anderson IV,Louis Mahoney, Mahat M. Ali, Marc Anwar, Mark Holden, Mark Semos, Max Martini, Michael Chernus, Mohamed Ali, Nasir Jama, Omar Berdouni, Peter Landi, Raleigh Morse, Raymond Care, Rey Hernandez, Roger Edwards, San Shella, Scott Oates, Shad Jason Hamilton, Stacha Hicks, Terence Anderson, Thomas Grube, Tom Hanks, Vincenzo Nicoli, Will Bowden, Yul Vazquez
Academy Award Nominations
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Barkhad Abdi as “Muse”)
Best Film Editing (Christopher Rouse)
Best Picture (Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, producers)
Best Sound Editing (Oliver Tarney)
Best Sound Mixing (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro)
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Billy Ray)
Golden Globe Award Nominations
Best Motion Picture-Drama
Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama (Tom Hanks)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Barkhad Abdi)
Best Director (Paul Greengrass)
National Society of Film Critics Award Nomination
Best Supporting Actor (Barkhad Abdi)
Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Barkhad Abdi)
Writers Guild Award
Best Adapted Screenplay
Directors Guild Award Nomination
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film (Paul Greengrass)
British Academy Award
Best Supporting Actor (Barkhad Abdi)
Nominations
Best Film
Best Leading Actor (Tom Hanks)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
Best Editing
David Lean Award for Direction (Paul Greengrass)
Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music
Boston Film Critics Award Nomination
Best Supporting Actor (Barkhad Abdi)
