Review: Captain Phillips

Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips" is a tense, often claustrophobic, political thriller that aims to make sense of the complicated world in which we live. In fact, the film's lead, Rich Phillips (Tom Hanks), has a discussion on that very matter during the picture's opening sequence as he drives with his wife (Catherine Keener) to the airport.

Phillips will travel to Africa - Oman, specifically - and take charge of a massive cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, which will make its way down the coast through Somalia and, eventually, to Mombasa. For those unaware with the real life story of this voyage, Phillips and his crew will be visited by Somali pirates, who, first, board the ship before later taking the captain hostage in a dinghy.

Greengrass has carved a successful niche for himself as a director of intense political thrillers that happen to be based on true incidents, such as the powerful "Bloody Sunday" and the remarkable "United 93," as well as others that might as well have been based on true stories, such as the Iraq War drama, "Green Zone."

His latest makes use of the style of camera work that he employed in his "Bourne" films, but the cinematography is used here less as a means of jarring our senses amid frenetic action and more to create a sense of tight quarters, in which the story takes place.

After the opening sequence during which Phillips and his wife discuss the changing nature of the world and their children's role in it, Greengrass gets down to business. Phillips and crew board the ship and, several minutes later, the captain spots two blips on his radar.

During a tense sequence, Phillips and crew attempt to ward off two boats full of Somali pirates with radio tricks, hoses and ship maneuvers. The pirates board the ship and Phillips does his best to keep his crew hidden. Eventually, the Somalis take $30,000 from the ship and Phillips along with them. As you might know from the real encounter, Phillips and his captors were involved in a standoff with the American military, who surrounded a dinghy carrying the captain and four Somalis.

While "United 93" played out in a documentary format, giving little characterization to the people in the film - a bold, but necessary, move - and appropriately did not involve politics whatsoever, "Captain Phillips" includes some subtle, but effective, ideas.

The key to the film is the relationship between Phillips and Muse (Barkhad Abdi), the skeletal leader of the pirates. During two exchanges - one in which Phillips asks whether fishing and taking hostages is a viable way to live and another when Muse talks about robbing a Greek ship - Greengrass puts the story of the Maersk Alabama in a wider context about the current state of the world and the U.S.'s role in it.

And it should be mentioned that Hanks gives one of his best performances, certainly his finest work in more than a decade. The actor displays some serious gravitas throughout the proceedings, especially during a scene in the film's finale as he is treated by a doctor who is searching for signs of stress. I'd be shocked if Hanks doesn't have some nominations in his future.