Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Yul Vazquez, Catherine Keener
Captain Phillips isn't a mindless action film. The pirates depicted here aren't simply evil, soulless baddies whose fate is to become target practice for Navy SEALs. Instead, they have motives and personalities which play a key part in the events that unfold. The hijacking of the Maersk Alabama ship in 2009 by Somalis became worldwide news. The hijackers are "pirates" in the sense that were attempting to take over the ship like Blackbeard would've done hundreds of years earlier. But they weren't organized and didn't come in a tall ship. The Somalis were a ragtag group of desperate people under the thumb of ruthless warlords. They see the Maersk Alabama as a big payday that might satiate their bosses. They were outgunned and outmanned, but still believed their trump card was kidnapping Captain Phillips and holding him for ransom. Muse (Abdi), the pirates' leader issues hollow declarations like, "Everything will be ok," to Phillips and his crew, knowing that the siege will likely end badly for someone.
Because Captain Phillips chooses not to depict its people one-dimensionally, it becomes an all the more engaging experience. The pirates do bad things, but their reasons are understandable considering their economic situation. We don't sympathize with them, but we understand the motives. Richard Phillips (Hanks) is a very competent, professional sea captain who understands that his crew's best chance for survival is for him to accompany the pirates onto the lifeboat and allow himself to be held for ransom. He's scared and under duress, but also observant. He correctly senses that Muse as a captain is way out of his depth. Phillips offers to help apply first aid to a wounded pirate and advice to Muse, mostly to ensure his own survival by ingratiating himself to his captors, but maybe he empathizes with Muse on some level. Phillips plays the situation like a master chess player who can anticipate one or two moves ahead.
Captain Phillips begins with the captain boarding his vessel, meeting with his crew, warning that they are in waters that are prone to pirate attacks, and overall maintaining a complete control of his ship.
He knows how to handle those who say, "I don't get paid enough to fight with pirates," as if there is an amount that would make such a thing worth their while. The ship is soon boarded by the four pirates, whose only advantage is that they are brandishing automatic weapons. Captain Phillips knows the ship and his crew, which plays to his advantage. Phillips offers the $30,000 in the ship safe in order to persuade the pirates to leave, but they are looking for a bigger score. After realizing that the ship is too big for them to adequately control, the pirates leave in a covered lifeboat with the captain as their hostage. They believe the US Navy will pay them millions, but Phillips tells Muse, "The US Navy won't let you win. They would rather sink this boat."
Tom Hanks is an actor whom audiences will follow into uncomfortable situations. In films like Cast Away, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and many others, he is an able tour guide into areas many can't identify with. His everyman quality is only part of the reason why is such a superb actor. Laurence Olivier is lauded by many as the greatest technical actor who ever lived, but how many people would rather spend time with a Tom Hanks character than Hamlet?
His Richard Phillips is a model of intelligence and competency, entirely convincing and equally vulnerable. Phillips is not a hero in the sense that he can physically outmuscle his captors, but he is noble and even to a degree sympathizes with the people who hold him hostage. He handles things as best he can with the information he's either provided or intuits from his surroundings.
Paul Greengrass is well-known for directing two of the Bourne movies and United 93, which tensely and authentically depicted the fear and confusion surrounding the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. I wasn't a fan of the Bourne series, but United 93 was splendid. In Captain Phillips, Greengrass takes advantage of the tight quarters inside the claustrophobic lifeboat to ratchet up the tension. Then, the US Navy arrives with high-tech intelligence and limitless resources at its disposal to end the crisis on the terms they want. The final showdown is a model of great film suspense. By then, even the pirates know their fates are sealed as they cling to the futile hope of a big payday.
Greengrass made the correct choice to up the human stakes by allowing the pirates to have their say. We may not agree with their tactics, but we understand their motivations and we see why they are driven to such desperation. Abdi, to my understanding, is a first-time actor from Somalia who lived in Minnesota. He is not a cackling villain full of cute one-liners created for his and our amusement. His Muse wants to believe he is doing something important for himself and his people. He thinks his gun will buy him respect. Abdi creates a person who has craved power and now has it, but pays a terrible price for it. It is an effective piece of acting based on knowledge of the Somali experience.
When the film's final showdown is over, (many already know how it ends based on news accounts), the audience didn't cheer like I expected, as if terrible villains met their maker in a satisfying way. Instead, there was mostly silence. This is a tribute to the film not painting the Somalis as ruthless people and not making everything one-sided. There are ramifications to the action we witnessed and we know all too well such things will continue to happen when poverty meets hopelessness.
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