Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi square off in a duel of ideals in “Captain Phillips” (Poster property of Michael De Luca Productions,
Scott Rudin Productions,
Trigger Street Productions & Columbia Pictures)
By: Jacob Elyachar
Imagine you are the captain of a huge freight boat and the ship is carrying precious cargo on your way to the southern part of Africa.
Unfortunately, your pleasant voyage that you expected was just shot down…. all thanks to Somali pirates…who are eager to go after anything that you have on board. As the captain of the ship, you must protect your crew! But…. be careful, one wrong move and your crew will be in danger. What decisions would you make?
Captain Richard Phillips had to deal with this situation when Somali Pirates attacked and hijacked the Maersk Alabama in 2009.
Phillips documented his experience in his 2010 autobiography: A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Dangerous Days at Sea.
Three years later, director Paul Greengrass and his team of producers (Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti, Scott Rudin and Kevin Spacey) successfully brought this story to the Silver Screen.
The film focused on two men: Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) and Abduwall Abdukhadir Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Both captains were the complete polar opposites.
Captain Phillips was a respected officer who put the best interests of his crew in front of him before himself. His altruistic acts were brazen as it was effectively translated onto the big screen.
Meanwhile, Muse came from a dog-eat-dog world where it was every man for himself-lifestyle. While he selected his crew, Muse could not convince them to follow him as some of them had individual agendas that lead to their downfall.
Both Hanks and Abdi gave stellar performances but it was Abdi’s calculating take on the terrorist could lead him to some awards in the winter.
Screenwriter Billy Ray wrote a powerful script that had movie lovers on the edge of their seats. In addition, Ray gave the audience an in-depth look into how both the Somali pirates think and the procedures the military goes through when rescuing hostages on the high seas. Like Abdi, Ray could be up for some awards in the near future.
Final thoughts & grade: Captain Phillips is an incredible biographical thriller that will have audiences on the edge on their seats throughout this suspenseful two-hour and 14-minute ride. This was one of Tom Hanks’s best action films outside of the Robert Langdon films and it cements Barkhad Abdi as a rising star in the film industry. A-
