Two brief intros show us Phillips and his wife (maybe five minutes of screentime for Catherine Keener) at home as he prepares to head out on another voyage, and a totally disorganized group of dirt-poor Somalis who are being noisily assembled to jump into a couple of twin-engine skiffs because an unseen Somali boss wants “more people out there getting more ships and making more money.”
#Watching captain phillips movie#
Director Paul Greengrass (“United 93,” the first two “Bourne” films), Hanks and an actor unknown to me named Barkhad Abdi, have given us a movie that’s near-impossible not to get grabbed by and wrapped up in. The good news: My attitude was misguided. I was watching a lot of television news when all of this went down, so no matter how many instances of dire circumstances and “how-are-they-gonna-get-out-of-this" tension were in the film, I was always aware that everything would be OK in the end. For those who actually don’t know the story at all, let’s just say that the cool, calm captain (Hanks) underwent a harrowing experience but ended up a hero. Here we go, with yet another entry in Hollywood’s incessant parade of “based-on-fact movies.” Even with Tom Hanks starring, I was concerned that knowing too much about the story (the outcome, the details) would get in the way of me enjoying it.įor those who weren’t watching television news in 2009, or have short memory spans, it’s the tale of Vermont-based Captain Richard Phillips, whose ship, the MV Maersk Alabama, loaded with commercial cargo, water and food aid, was making its way down the East Coast of Africa when it was attacked by Somali pirates who demanded money, then let greed get in the way of things and ended up wanting something more.
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