Review: Captain Phillips (2013) - NP Approved

Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman
Director: Paul Greengrass
Country: USA
Genre: Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Official Website: Here

Editor’s Notes: Captain Phillips opens wide today, October 11th.

Unfortunately, with the growth in quality of television has also come the dreaded 24-hour news cycle. Entire networks are now dedicated to the delivery of news items that had previously been captured in newspapers and 11-o’clock newscasts. The quality ebbs and flows and former bastions of hard journalism (hello CNN) find themselves reporting on the newest diet trends. Within this attempt to fill time, occasionally a story comes out with immediate cinematic appeal. Once reports surfaced of an American being held hostage by Somali pirates, we saw the coming feature, but we had no idea it’d be as good as Captain Phillips.

Once reports surfaced of an American being held hostage by Somali pirates, we saw the coming feature, but we had no idea it’d be as good as Captain Phillips.

Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) is the captain of the Maersk Alabama. His job is to take his cargo, including several tons of food and water supplies, around the horn of Africa as quickly as possible. While the task is somewhat basic, seeing as captaining a large vessel is not unfamiliar to Phillips, there is a lingering threat. As the trip takes the ship past Somalia, Phillips is repeatedly made aware of the threat of pirate attack, something the crew has been trained against. During a drill, the crew’s nightmares are realized as armed Somali pirates approach to commandeer the vessel. Captain Phillips must now protect his ship, his crew and himself.

The biggest obstacle standing in the way of Captain Phillips is the one that dogs so many with the label “based on actual events”; those that quibble with authenticity. I’m not going to bother with that. Coming into the film with little knowledge of the events that transpired (I knew that Richard Phillips had roughly the same facial hair as what’s on screen); I took it in as if it were a film and not a recounting. It looks like Hanks and director Paul Greengrass may have had the same mentality. It is somewhat surprising that it took the catalyst that was the actual events to have Hollywood push out a modern pirate film. The possibility has just been laying in wait.

The film hinges on Tom Hanks’ performance as the titular captain. The role marks a return to form for Hanks, who, while never falling so low as to be called “bad”, has certainly been filling his time with less demanding roles. There is a subtlety to his performance that is welcomed. For the majority of the film his character is level-headed and manages his emotions well. Hysterics are not bandied about, and there is authenticity to the interactions. That is not to say that Hanks is not given the opportunity to show the depth of his skills, as Phillips hits his breaking point and crumbles into inconsolability by the end. The grandiose mental anguish and requisite tears come at a point when they are most earned. The weight of the subject matter doesn’t have you anticipating the break, rather the skill with which Hanks has built this emotional lake makes the eventual dam bursting and necessary outpouring a release for viewers as well.

Greengrass uses an even-hand in the crafting of his story. As should be expected, even with his trademark handheld shots, Greengrass does not sacrifice coherency in his quest for urgency.

Greengrass uses an even-hand in the crafting of his story. As should be expected, even with his trademark handheld shots, Greengrass does not sacrifice coherency in his quest for urgency. With a grounded screenplay from writer Billy Ray, Richard Phillips is presented as a man instead of a magnificent hero. He is the captain of the ship, but his actions are not shown to be anything of true note, performing his duties and adhering to protocol whenever possible. The crew of the ship is offered more shots of heroism, in a scene that can’t help but recall United 93, than Phillips. In fact, at many points the film is presented like a relative of United 93, with its tense, contained action and complicated villains. The Somali pirates, with a central performance by Barkhad Abdi that rivals Hanks’ in sheer measured nuance, are presented as human beings and not symbols of abject villainy. The way in which Abdi’s Muse gently mirrors Phillips is impressive, both being taken on similar emotional journeys that sees them hitting immovable walls. The familiar story and Hanks will be enough for some audiences, but the cultivated emotional resonance is what makes the film memorable.

Captain Phillips is assuredly a thriller. Its main character is the common man forced into incredible circumstances. Slowly it transforms into a hostage film before going full Zero Dark Thirty on us. The action is gripping, tense and somewhat exhaustive. This could all coalesce into a decent film, but director Paul Greengrass does not seem satisfied with mere contentment. Nestled within the action of Captain Phillips is a revealing character study. In his delicate shading of both Hanks’ and Abdi’s characters, Greengrass shows the two blurring into one another. While the depictions of the Somalis flirts just close enough to sympathy to inspire discomfort, it is at least honest to the very nature of humanity. An undertone of similarity pervades and elevates the film as a whole, and there is a metamorphosis undergone by its leads. The change is reflected in the screenplay with the oft repeated line, “everything’s going to be ok”, never possessing the same meaning. Captain Phillips is just as emotionally successful as it is suspenseful with two central performances that are understatedly breathtaking.

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Derek Deskins

Sr. Staff Film Critic

Derek was the only engineer at Northeastern University taking a class on German film and turning a sociology research paper into an examination of Scorsese’s work. Still living in Boston, MA, he blatantly abuses his Netflix account, but can never seem to get his Instant Queue below 200. He continues to fight the stigma that being good at math means you are not any no good at writing. I good write, very much.

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