Based on true events, Tom Hanks anchors away as Captain Phillips in this intense, gripping, emotional movie about Somali pirates taking over a cargo ship named the Alabama back in 2009. The movie is directed by Paul Greengrass, and is based off the book from the captain himself, “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea.”
This movie hooks you within 20 minutes from its start, and it does not let go. The first 20 minutes you get a feel for the character of Captain Phillips, seeing that he himself is a “tight ship”, and makes sure everything on schedule, and is prepared for anything. I went into this film not knowing the outcome of the actual story, which only made even more intense. As soon as the events started, I had one ass cheek on the seat, and I was biting my nails down to the cuticles. Paul Greengrass’ use of the shaky cam cinematography works so well in this movie. He does not use it as a gimmick like a lot of other directors do. No, he utilizes it perfectly to help tell this horrific story. Tom Hanks again, knocks it out of the park in this role. There has only been one other time where Tom Hanks was able to get me choked up, and that was the scene at the end of Forrest Gump where he finds out he has a son, and asks if his son is smart. It still gets me to this day, and there’s a scene in this movie that brought back that lump, and I think I heard sniffles from the folks around me. All the actors in the movie did a fantastic job as well. Greengrass did a brilliant job capturing the life of these Somali pirates, and I sense a best picture Nom, and best actor nom for Tom Hanks.
Film Junkee approved on this one gang. It reminds me of how Argo is. True event that you can already find out the ending to, but it still grips into you as if you do not know the outcome. Great flick for seeing with friends, or having a date night. Check out my video review below, and if you saw the movie, let me know what you thought of it.