Film No.12 (2014) Feb 18th. 8.30PM CYGNET Como.
Captain Phillips
Does anyone play the perennial good guy better than Tom Hanks ? He is the bankable commodity for big studio drama, and while the Paul Greengrass style of grit produced in Captain Phillips is less glossy, Hanks is the man we are rooting for from minute one to the last.
Greengrass brought us the true drama behind United 93 in 2006, taking us through the horror of that doomed flight on 9/11. This time he brings to life the story behind the US container ship hijacked by Somali pirates while operating off the coast of Africa in 2009. Captain Richard Phillips, a cautious man, is forced into a nightmare; a nightmare he's feared for months. The depiction of that fear in the film's closing scenes, stamps Hanks as a quality performer.
The classically "dodgy" camera work, synonymous with Greengrass, adds to the edgy script. Claustrophobia sufferers must be warned that sixty minutes of the film is spent in the tight confines of an orange plastic emergency vessel. The scenes are effective but never pleasant.
The Somali cast led by Barkhad Abdi, playing Muse the skinny leader, lifts this film to the heights it deserves. I'm only sad Greengrass gives so little character study via the script; the nameless Navy Seal commander who "sealed the deal" in the closing scenes is a case in point. 9GUMS.
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