Captain Phillips

I am starting my official movie watching for the Oscars. Every awards season I like to watch the movies that are up for Best Motion Picture of the Year and do my best to rate the movies based on who I think will win. I have only watched one of the nine films in this category, so far. I enjoy knowing about the movies so that when someone wins, I can agree or disagree. I love awards season, but truthfully I really only love the Oscars. They are the best of the best for film and I appreciate how they honor people from all aspects of film. Okay enough about my obsessions. Now onto the film…

Captain Phillips was directed by Paul Greengrass and stars Tom Hanks, and a newcomer Barkhad Abdi. This film is based on the true story of the first American cargo ship to be captured in 200 years. The captain of the cargo ship was taken hostage after the crew attempted to take the ship back from the Somali pirates.

I really was not sure what to expect from this film. I do love Tom Hanks and I know that he gets into his characters so well. My father, my movie watching buddy, said it best, you don’t think you are watching Tom Hanks because he has made you believe he is Captain Richard Philips.

This was definitely a nail-biting, on the edge of your seat kind of film. I have the bitten nails to prove it, but what I really liked is how they portray both sides of the story. They did a great job in showing how the Somalis get are forced into capturing ships and there is no other choice. The small village is forced by drug lords to take a ship hostage and bring it back so the drug lord can sell the parts and gain the money. If these men do not take over the ship, they will not be paid or even worse, will lose their lives. It makes sense that they would want to lay out the full story before you can take sides. I do think they give you the background of the Somali’s so you don’t go into the film believing that these people are all bad and don’t care who they hurt. In reality, they have no choice in the matter.

We also get to see Captain Phillips get ready at home and we watch an almost awkward conversation between him and his wife. It give us an idea of how important his family is to him and the risk he takes in leaving.

I was able to get some background on Barkhad Abdi. He is from a part of Minneapolis, Minnesota where a lot of other Somalis live. His family fled Somalia to escape civil war. He has no previous acting experience, but because of his background and the language he spoke, he was cast in the part. I think for his first acting gig he did a great job. I understand that they wanted someone from Somalia and someone who could speak the language, but if you can’t get into the part or act out how this pirate did, then you really aren’t of any value. I think he portrayed the leader of this pirate group very well. I could see him doing other parts later on if he was interested. Also, he is up for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. I wish him the best of luck!

I will say that as the action continued on, I really got into this movie quickly. I was yelling at the crew to attack the pirates and trying to help Captain Phillips get out of the hostage situation. I really didn’t pay much attention to the news when this event was really happening so my knowledge of it was very basic. I didn’t know the details and it was interesting to watch my dad tell me how this part wasn’t real or they exaggerated this. He seemed to know what really happened versus what was jut Hollywood extras.

I enjoyed this film immensely and I would recommend it to anyone. This year is a great year for true story movies. From Captain Phillips to Lone Survivor, and many more.

Make sure you check out the Road to the Oscars at IMDB. And of course keep a watch out for all my reviews of the films up for an Academy Award!!!