Captain Phillips should not work. In today’s version of a thriller, you need crazy stunts, over-the-top dialogue, and a mono-e-mono battle between the lead villain and the hero. Captain Phillips relies on guile, knowledge of procedure, and quick thinking. Despite lethargic pacing at times, Captain Phillips ratchets up the tension immediately once we board the Maersk Alabama and never lets up until the end. It is not director Paul Greengrass’s (United 93) best effort or Tom Hanks’s (Cast Away), but it is a worthy entry into both of their career biographies.
The titular captain (Tom Hanks) is going through the motions on another trip for Maersk through the Somali waters: dealing with union guys and running pirate drills. Those drills come in handy when the unarmed ship is boarded by 4 actual pirates: the leader Muse (Barkhad Abdi), the brawn (Barkhad Abdirahman), the tech (Mahat Ali), and the youth (Faysal Ahmed). The pirates take money from the ship and take Captain Phillips hostage in hopes to get millions from the “insurance man.” However, the US government and military are made aware of the situation and intervene to save the man.
Captain Phillips is adapted from the man’s actual memoir, accounting for the hostage situation the movie presents, so we already know the ending to the story. Credit goes to director Greengrass for maintaining the level of tension he generates throughout the story. Greengrass slows the pace down and uses the claustrophobia of the multiple situations to his advantage. One character, in attempting to shut down the emergency power, get’s caught during the pirate walk through of the ship. Captain Phillips has to think quickly to keep the pirates’ eyes off his subordinate and gives them some food in the fridge. When on the lifeboat, Phillips messes with the pirates’ team dynamics in the confined space in hopes to create mistrust and dissent among them. Silence here adds to the sense of dread, and repetition of the leader’s words “Everything gonna be alright.” grows more ominous as the story goes on. The shaky cam is used to good effect here, mostly keeping things intimate without causing too much disorientation. Captain Phillips mostly succeeds because of the careful direction and well-written screenplay and their ability to keep the fear at a consistently high level.
Another twist on the thriller that Captain Phillips gives the audience: real world logic. Drills are put in place to prepare for pirates; broadcasting over the military line that planes are inbound because you know your attackers are listening; saying what seat you are in via a plea to tell your family. These are all clever tricks by Captain Phillips to get out of this predicament alive. Equally important, Phillips’s crew and the pirates have their moments of ingenuity. The pirates are smart enough to check the engine room when they go on board the ship, and they are aware that negotiation is their best way out of their situation instead of killing the hostage. The crew sets up traps for the shoeless pirates and uses their knowledge of the ship for advantages. No one comes out looking like a plot device with stupid decisions, especially given the back story for each of the pirates sets up who they are as people well.
Tom Hanks is really the only “name” actor here. However, he is the glue to the story. After the first couple scenes, I didn’t see Hanks but I saw the Captain as a character. Hanks does a good job giving the man a quick wit, but an even better job showing his humanity and restlessness as the story goes on. The PTSD interrogation at the end of the film reminds us that this is a real guy, and that Hanks is a very good actor. The 4 pirates are all pretty solid; the 2 Barkhads leave the best impression. The big Barkhad was really intense and elevated the heightened tension on the lifeboat, and the leader Barkhad has a soulless stare that leaves you terrified with what is going on in his head.
Captain Phillips toys well with what being a captain and a leader really is. When the chips are down, the pirates are in it for themselves and money, but Captain Phillips understands that you have to put yourself first, and be ready to take all the responsibility for your actions. Anchored by Hanks and Greengrass, Captain Phillips gives us a real world wild ride that pushes all the right thriller buttons. More importantly, I will never take a boat trip around the Somali coastline unless Tom Hanks can captain the ship.