Captain Phillips
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Billy Ray
Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi
Columbia Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 134 Minutes
Release Date: October 11, 2013
Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93) and written by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games), Captain Phillips is based on the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty.
The film is an examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The story focuses on the tense relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), and Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse (Barkhad Abdi), his Somali counterpart.
Few directors have the ability to evoke a harrowing, real-life event like Greengrass – if you’ve seen United 93, you know exactly how affecting his films can be. Captain Phillips is an expertly crafted, documentary-style film with impressive performances from Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, who makes his film debut here. Hanks delivers some of his best work in years, playing the Hanksian Everymanâ„¢ – an ordinary guy who, despite insurmountable odds, survives and becomes a hero.
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