Everyone knows the story. Somalian pirates take over an American ship, kidnap its captain with the intent to ransom and in a militaristic feat of the U.S. Navy, three of the pirates are simultaneously shot and Captain Phillips is saved. This past weekend, the movie presentation of this actual event was released to a slew of fantastic reviews and praise. “Captain Phillips” does more than tell the story the country knows; it gives the unspoken a voice and presents a captivating vision on the silver screen.
This movie is an absolute edge-of-your-seat thriller, even though it is already known how the story ends. From the twists and turns of the plot to the constantly building music, the audience gripped their armrests in anticipation, holding their breaths to see what would happen. Most interesting is the amount of detail that is typically unknown by the public which is demonstrated in this film, based off of Phillips’ book, “A Captain’s Duty.” The processes of how ships try to defend themselves without weapons against pirate attacks were extremely interesting. All gates and doors around the ships are locked 24/7 and fire hoses are mounted on the sides of the ship to make it more difficult to approach when the water is turned on.

An interesting addition to “Captain Phillips” is the background provided on the Somalian pirates. The first scene of the film shows Phillips going to the airport with his wife. The second is in a Somalian town, where a warlord descends and forces the pirates out on the water to make money for him. Here, the audience sees spectacular performances from newcomers to Hollywood: Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed and Mahat M. Ali. The four are fishermen, but as a result of large first world ships coming to their coast and taking the majority of the fish available, they have no other job to pursue. They consistently fail to understand the power they are taking on when they kidnap Captain Phillips- in a chilling scene, the Navy approaches the lifeboat to attempt to negotiate and call out the four men’s names. The men are horrified, yelling, “How do they know our names? How do they know?”
Most notable in this film was the absolute Oscar-worthy performance of Tom Hanks (“The Da Vinci Code”), who depicted Captain Rich Phillips. He is a man who has never known violence, only knowing his family and his work, but doing everything he can to protect his crew and himself. With quick and adept thinking, Phillips consistently uses his brain to work for the saving of lives- for example, he secretly holds down the radio transmitter while speaking to the pirates, notifying his crew that they are about to begin a search. The most prominent scene of acting though was in the conclusion of the film- there is no music, just Hanks, presenting a truly broken and terrified man. As he is escorted aboard the Navy ship, Phillips is taken in for a medical examination. The doctor checking him out asks questions in quick succession, in stark contrast to Phillips delayed and shocked responses. As she reminds him that he is safe now, Phillips lets out a single, echoing sob.

Despite the phenomenal presentation of the film, it should not be forgotten that the real Captain Phillips is facing a lawsuit for his actions. Not mentioned in the movie was the fact that all ships were ordered to stay 600 miles off of Somalia’s coast as a result of several other pirate seizures in the preceding week. When the Maersk Alabama was overtaken, they were less than 250 miles from it. This film does give the pirates a voice they no longer have; it additionally presents Phillips as a hero, which may not actually be a reality.

Though this film may not be completely accurate, it still remains that “Captain Phillips” is a tumultuous, thrilling ride, with a phenomenal showing by Hanks. In a real life on-film demonstration of the U.S. military’s prowess similar to that of “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Captain Phillips” is a more captivating, two-sided and all around phenomenal work of art that is highly recommended. It still remains to be seen how the trial will pan out, but regardless, Hanks’ presentation of Phillips will be one that sticks with the viewer for weeks.