"Captain Phillips" tells the tale of a U.S. cargo ship that was hijacked in 2009 by four armed Somali pirates. It is tense and provocative. Tom Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips and his unarmed crew who do what they can under enormously pressure-filled circumstances to survive in the face of anger, hostility, violence and confusion.
The films plot is straightforward and fairly simplistic but it is in the quality of the content that makes this film stand-up to scrutiny. The Somali pirates are portrayed as victims of there own dire circumstances who are just trying to get by and make ends meet back in Somalia. They see the open seas around their country as a gold-mine of money-carrying ships and we are sympathetic to their plight because we know how hard life is for them back home. They have a chance to get away with $30,000 early in the film but decide to escalate the situation in their quest to get more. What makes "Captain Phillips" a different and noble venture is the fact that the four Somali pirates are not made into stereotypes or cookie-cutter villains but real, living, breathing individuals who are under pressure to bring home the bacon.
Tom Hanks does a great job in the lead role of making Captain Phillips into an authentic everyman who is responding under pressure in human ways that any audience member can identify with. He turns Phillips into a admirable, three-dimensional victim who relies on his own resourceful intelligence and calm to get him through the dangerous situation he's in.
The final scenes involving a lifeboat and the U.S. Navy are nail-biting and the actions of some of the characters will surprise you. What makes this film enjoyable is that it doesn't adhere to expectations and despite its straightforward structure does not get bogged down by stereotypes and cliches.
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