Captain Phillips (2013)

Genre : Drama/Thriller
Country: USA

Cast :
Tom Hanks : Richard Phillips
Barkhad Abdi : Muse
Catherine Keener : Andrea Phillips

Director:
Paul Greengrass

Summary
Captain Phillips is a realistic adaptation of the hijacking of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama by a gang of Somali pirates. The film focuses on the relationship between Captain Richard Phillips and the Somali leader Muse.

My opinion
They're not here to fish.

An interpretation that fits Tom Hanks as a glove. He brings along his bag of tricks to show a whole range of emotions in this movie. An autobiographical movie based on the book by Captain Richard Philips : A Captain's Duty : Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea. A raw and emotional report about the hijacking of a cargo ship off the Somali coast by pirates and the subsequent hostage of Philips .

Tom Hanks shows different facets of the Captain. He's an ordinary family man on his way to do a routine job, a dutiful captain who strictly adhere to the rules and can rely on many years of experience, a devious man with cunning and strategic ingenuity trying to shake of the pirates and afterwards to keep them on a leash, a scared person who fears for his life and still looks for a way out of this dangerous situation and as apotheosis a broken person who realizes that he escaped a life-threatening situation. In those last minutes Hanks shows what a brilliant actor he is. Every emotional stage he plays is as if he has experienced it for real. The severe dutiful glance, the fear in his eyes and combative look. Each is believable put down and you feel involved .

The interpretation of the Somali pirates was terrifyingly real. Especially Barkhad Abdi was brilliant as Muse. A Somali who's forced to get money for his tribe and puts together a group to engage in hijacking a ship and ask for ransom. He was a character that showed a mix of thoughtfulness and determination to achieve this. He’s also a leader who was able to calm down his team which walked around half-drugged all the time. With their wide open eyes and ferociously waving their machine guns .

Despite the limited locations that could be used in this film, it’s a very tense movie and you see the situation escalate to a dangerous and violent claustrophobic journey in a lifeboat .

I had no idea that those measures were taken by the U.S. military in such a situation. At one point I had the idea that this had to be a very special Captain and thus the great resources were deployed. Three military vessels were deployed and a platoon Navy SEALS been rounded up to do the job. Extremely professionally filmed and unnerving exciting moments. I didn't know what the outcome of the film would be, but there isn’t much choice: either survive this trip to hell or don’t. It's that simple .

I hope that cargo ships are now allowed to arm themselves as they float in these waters, so that they can stop such an attack by a primitive motor boat. And otherwise just send an undercover team and pretend to be a reporting team that wants to interview them, after which they can be arrested. This actually worked at the airport in Brussels.