Captain Phillips
Like Titanic, going into “Captain Phillips” I knew that at some point the ship was going to be taken by Somali pirates. These are not the eye patch wearing “shiver me timbers” type pirates. These are desperate men looking for money and riches without any real hope of finding them. They are fishermen who have search for fish that aren’t in their waters because the big fishing boats came and swept them all away. They are children who are growing up into a world that they know is stacked against them and the pirates offer them a way out. Going into this movie, I also knew that by the end of the movie they would not succeed. The genius of this movie is that knowing the outcome of the movie, you still sit riveted and hope that Captain Phillips finds his way back to the shores of America. Yet you also hope that the pirates can be brought to justice rather then taken out as though they never existed. I wonder if anyone in Somalia misses them, shed tears for these men or lost the person they loved most in the world. Something tells me that it is doubtful. These men were soldiers in a war they can’t win. All my American idealism says that surely someone will miss them but in real life sometimes people just go away and no one misses them. Therein lies the tragedy of this story.
It starts innocently enough as Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) says goodbye to his wife at the airport and reports for duty aboard the Maersk Alabama. All seems like it will be an easy trip. You do sense that Captain Phillips feels something as he reads the map showing their route through Somali waters. It is not something he wants to do but he has signed up for this trip and the route. Reading an email warning of pirate attacks, Captain Phillips is wary enough to perform a drill with his crew regarding a pirate attack. During the drill, Phillips notices that the vessel is being chased by Somali pirates in two “skiffs” or small boats. Captain Phillips succeeds in outrunning the pirates after one boat hears Phillips bluffing on the radio calling for immediate military air support and the other boat loses engine power while trying to gain speed under the rough water of the Alabama’s wake. The next day one boat returns carrying four heavily armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse played by Barkhad Abdi in what should be an Oscar winning performance. They attach a ladder and board the ship. Despite the best efforts of Phillips and his crew, the pirates board and take control of the Maersk Alabama, capturing Captain Phillips after he cuts the ship's engine power and tells the crew to hide in the ship's engine room. Phillips offers Muse the contents of the ship's safe ($30,000), but under orders from his boss (the local Somali faction leader) Muse's plan is to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company. He says for the first time “That everything is OK. No one will be hurt.”
First time actor Barkhad Abdi is electric as the leader of the pirates that boarded the ship. Director Paul Greengrass found someone who can embody the fearlessness of a pirate and yet still make you care about how he fares in the movie. As the movie develops and Captain Phillips is removed from the Maersk Alabama and things get more and more desperate, Abdi keeps telling Phillips who he calls “Irish” that there is “no problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK.” It is a mantra of the movie. As the ship is surrounded by the U.S. Navy, surely he must know that his plans are not going to succeed. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. As they begin to negotiate with them, surely he knows that he is most likely not going back to Somalia and his village. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. As Navy Seals come onboard the lead ship and take over the operation requesting that he come aboard to negotiate for the money, he has to know that his life as he knows it is over. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. Yet you feel as though maybe he knows better. The Americans are not going to kill him. He will be taken to America and imprisoned. It is a happy ending. His life is over and yet you can see that it doesn’t bother him a bit. What life did he really have?
Paul Greengrass has done this type of movie before. “United 93“ was a great movie that I dare anyone who watched the actual events of 9/11 happen live on TV to watch without shedding a tear. I could barely watch it because it felt so real. In both movies, the camera moves as though a member of the crew and follows the action about as well as someone trapped aboard Flight 93 or the Maersk Alabama could. You don’t see it all. You don’t get a perfect angle shot on a steady camera that lets you stay outside the story. You are forced into the cockpit of Flight 93 or forced into a life raft with Captain Phillips and 4 pirates. The atmosphere of these movies is palpable and it forces itself on you. Unlike “United 93“ I knew that Captain Phillips would survive. The power lies that Paul Greengrass makes a film where you really are not sure. The Navy Seals move through this movie as a last resort. The President was not gonna let the boat reach Somalia and have Phillips held hostage in a Somali prison. The Maersk Alabama crew follows the lifeboat as best it can until the Navy arrives and they are escorted to their final destination. What Captain Phillips does in the movie can be considered either brave or incredibly stupid. He saves the lives of his crew and tries to save the pirates too. He doesn’t want to see these people dead. He has no malice in his heart and simply wants everyone to be OK.
This is not a happy story for the pirates or even Captain Phillips. The emotional scars (though he does return to running a ship a little over a year after the events in this movie) he will carry for the rest of his life. He is alive and he can go home to his family. Tom Hanks is great as Phillips (despite the hokey Kennedy accent that makes him sound like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons) and really brings realism to the story and Phillips. Like he did in Cast Away, he gives you a sense of what he is thinking without a word. Hanks anchors this story in our world. You don't want to see Tom Hanks hurt or killed. You root for him instinctively. This is a story you should see and want to see. It is not only about how bad ass America is (judging by the Seals in this movie we are pretty bad ass) but about the problems in the world that we can’t solve with guns and violence. Captain Phillips left me wondering how we could help the Somali people without invading their country. I don’t have any good answers but surely the world at large could figure something out. I’m just a schmuck with a poorly read movie blog. As I finish that last line, I hear the heavy accent of Barkhad Abdi saying with a cocksure smile. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK.
Mr. Unhappy sez: You should see this movie and surely it can in awards during the Academy Awards. Best Picture of the year though... I just don’t see it.
It starts innocently enough as Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) says goodbye to his wife at the airport and reports for duty aboard the Maersk Alabama. All seems like it will be an easy trip. You do sense that Captain Phillips feels something as he reads the map showing their route through Somali waters. It is not something he wants to do but he has signed up for this trip and the route. Reading an email warning of pirate attacks, Captain Phillips is wary enough to perform a drill with his crew regarding a pirate attack. During the drill, Phillips notices that the vessel is being chased by Somali pirates in two “skiffs” or small boats. Captain Phillips succeeds in outrunning the pirates after one boat hears Phillips bluffing on the radio calling for immediate military air support and the other boat loses engine power while trying to gain speed under the rough water of the Alabama’s wake. The next day one boat returns carrying four heavily armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse played by Barkhad Abdi in what should be an Oscar winning performance. They attach a ladder and board the ship. Despite the best efforts of Phillips and his crew, the pirates board and take control of the Maersk Alabama, capturing Captain Phillips after he cuts the ship's engine power and tells the crew to hide in the ship's engine room. Phillips offers Muse the contents of the ship's safe ($30,000), but under orders from his boss (the local Somali faction leader) Muse's plan is to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company. He says for the first time “That everything is OK. No one will be hurt.”
First time actor Barkhad Abdi is electric as the leader of the pirates that boarded the ship. Director Paul Greengrass found someone who can embody the fearlessness of a pirate and yet still make you care about how he fares in the movie. As the movie develops and Captain Phillips is removed from the Maersk Alabama and things get more and more desperate, Abdi keeps telling Phillips who he calls “Irish” that there is “no problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK.” It is a mantra of the movie. As the ship is surrounded by the U.S. Navy, surely he must know that his plans are not going to succeed. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. As they begin to negotiate with them, surely he knows that he is most likely not going back to Somalia and his village. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. As Navy Seals come onboard the lead ship and take over the operation requesting that he come aboard to negotiate for the money, he has to know that his life as he knows it is over. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK. Yet you feel as though maybe he knows better. The Americans are not going to kill him. He will be taken to America and imprisoned. It is a happy ending. His life is over and yet you can see that it doesn’t bother him a bit. What life did he really have?
Paul Greengrass has done this type of movie before. “United 93“ was a great movie that I dare anyone who watched the actual events of 9/11 happen live on TV to watch without shedding a tear. I could barely watch it because it felt so real. In both movies, the camera moves as though a member of the crew and follows the action about as well as someone trapped aboard Flight 93 or the Maersk Alabama could. You don’t see it all. You don’t get a perfect angle shot on a steady camera that lets you stay outside the story. You are forced into the cockpit of Flight 93 or forced into a life raft with Captain Phillips and 4 pirates. The atmosphere of these movies is palpable and it forces itself on you. Unlike “United 93“ I knew that Captain Phillips would survive. The power lies that Paul Greengrass makes a film where you really are not sure. The Navy Seals move through this movie as a last resort. The President was not gonna let the boat reach Somalia and have Phillips held hostage in a Somali prison. The Maersk Alabama crew follows the lifeboat as best it can until the Navy arrives and they are escorted to their final destination. What Captain Phillips does in the movie can be considered either brave or incredibly stupid. He saves the lives of his crew and tries to save the pirates too. He doesn’t want to see these people dead. He has no malice in his heart and simply wants everyone to be OK.
This is not a happy story for the pirates or even Captain Phillips. The emotional scars (though he does return to running a ship a little over a year after the events in this movie) he will carry for the rest of his life. He is alive and he can go home to his family. Tom Hanks is great as Phillips (despite the hokey Kennedy accent that makes him sound like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons) and really brings realism to the story and Phillips. Like he did in Cast Away, he gives you a sense of what he is thinking without a word. Hanks anchors this story in our world. You don't want to see Tom Hanks hurt or killed. You root for him instinctively. This is a story you should see and want to see. It is not only about how bad ass America is (judging by the Seals in this movie we are pretty bad ass) but about the problems in the world that we can’t solve with guns and violence. Captain Phillips left me wondering how we could help the Somali people without invading their country. I don’t have any good answers but surely the world at large could figure something out. I’m just a schmuck with a poorly read movie blog. As I finish that last line, I hear the heavy accent of Barkhad Abdi saying with a cocksure smile. No problem "Irish", everything gonna be OK.
Mr. Unhappy sez: You should see this movie and surely it can in awards during the Academy Awards. Best Picture of the year though... I just don’t see it.
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