Movie Review - "Captain Phillips"

[WildBill]

Today I took off work for a vacation day. I decided to see a movie so I went to the local AMC and watched "Captain Phillips". This movie, starring Tom Hanks as Captain Rich Phillips, is about Somoli pirates hijacking a commercial freighter. The movie was based on a real incident that happened in 2009. I enjoyed it and thought that it was pretty good. It kept my full attention for the entire 2 hrs 14 minutes.

[Jaguar]

I've read that most of the crew say the story on the screen was not true - and in fact blame Captain Phillips for the hijacking in the first place.

[WildBill]

I've read that most of the crew say the story on the screen was not true - and in fact blame Captain Phillips for the hijacking in the first place.

I can't comment on the accuracy, only that I enjoyed the film.

[Jaguar]

I've read that most of the crew say the story on the screen was not true - and in fact blame Captain Phillips for the hijacking in the first place.

I can't comment on the accuracy, only that I enjoyed the film.

Fair enough.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've read that most of the crew say the story on the screen was not true - and in fact blame Captain Phillips for the hijacking in the first place.

I can't comment on the accuracy, only that I enjoyed the film.

Fair enough.

Yeah, it looks like an entertaining movie, but I have read the POV of a couple of the crewmen. In fact, they actually confronted Tom Hanks about it. . . . .maybe "confronted" is too strong a word, but they apparently communicated with him about it, and Hanks appeared to be aware that there were issues with the story as told by the Captain, but was unwilling to discuss it. Who knows. . . . it may just be that these crewmen had a mutinous spirit. I'm not really qualified to comment either.

All the same, it looks like a really good bit of storytelling. Bill, what was the cinematography like, and were the SEAL team bits fairly realistic?

[WildBill]

Bill, what was the cinematography like, and were the SEAL team bits fairly realistic?

TAM - you're putting me on the spot - I am going to get myself into trouble.

The cinematography was good. The scenes in Somali [actually Malta] and on the water and on the ship were pretty good. IMO they spend too much time with the searchlights flying around the lifeboat at night trying to make it look scary. If I were the guy in charge, I would have taken out the bad guys much sooner. But that would have made the movie too short.

I haven't had the pleasure of meeting any real Navy SEALs, but I think the guys that they cast were from straight out of Gold's Gym by the way of a tattoo parlor. IMO, the movie didn't give much insight into the SEAL team. They were just a bunch of buff guys with evil-looking weapons. As I recall, only the head of the SEAL team had any speaking lines.

I can see why most of the crew members might object to how they were portrayed in the movie. Most of them were portrayed as union members sitting around drinking coffee and complaining that they were being paid enough to work in hazardous conditions and they should have employed armed guards to work aboard the vessel. Throughout the movie, I was thinking the outcome would have been completely different if the crew members had CHLs.

All said, I still enjoyed the film.

[Abraham]

Docu-dramas generally state: Based on fact.

However, based means they have a lot of stretch.

They might be entertaining, but true, meh...

[The Annoyed Man]

Here are the official trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony ... deos-large

[Oldgringo]

If Tom Hanks is in it, it's gonna' be good. That said, I do not understand why these ships in known pirate waters did not/do not carry/employ anti-pirate protective devices.

[WildBill]

If Tom Hanks is in it, it's gonna' be good. That said, I do not understand why these ships in known pirate waters did not/do not carry/employ anti-pirate protective devices.

He did play is a few stinkers, but most movies with Tom Hanks are pretty good.

I hope that they do now. If the movie is accurate the crew was very small [maybe 10 total] and the ship was hijacked by four men armed with AK-47s and some 1911s. I guess the shipping company didn't want to pay for a dozen armed security people making union wages to sit around and do nothing.

[G26ster]

I thought the best acting in the movie was done by the lead Somali pirate. Excellent film.

[OldCannon]

If Tom Hanks is in it, it's gonna' be good.

You must not have seen "Joe vs The Volcano" I was unimpressed with "The Ladykillers" too.

[WildBill]

If Tom Hanks is in it, it's gonna' be good.

You must not have seen "Joe vs The Volcano" I was unimpressed with "The Ladykillers" too.

Tom Hanks in "Bachelor Party" has more than offset his occasional bad movies such as "Joe vs The Volcano" and "The Ladykillers".

[puma guy]

My wife and I took in the movie and enjoyed it. With that said I don't think it was an absolutely faithful depiction of the incidents. But Hey - its a movie. Only Captain Phillips knows what transpired inside the lifeboat. Tom Hanks didn't ask Rich Phillips any details about the what went on during his ordeal. He only wanted to know details regarding captaining a vessel, jargon, protocol, etc. i.e. How to "act" like a ship's captain. I know the portrayed timeline for the Seals taking out the pirates was not realistic nor did it give any notion of how difficult it was to make the shots much less the Seals and the Commander's frustration getting all three in a 'green light' position. I haven't read any portrayals from the crew or captain's viewpoint, but there was a good synopsis in a book about taking out Bin Laden titled "Seal Target Geronimo". I think it took hours and hours to get the shots. I'm think I will re-read that book! I know it's unrelated to this thread, but when taking out Bib laden everyone had to wait for President Obama to finish his round of golf. To his credit Obama sacrificed by cutting his game to only 9 holes.

[WildBill]

I thought the best acting in the movie was done by the lead Somali pirate. Excellent film.

He did a terrific job, especially for an actor with no experience. I didn't know this but he is actually from Somalia. Barkhad Abdi was seven years old when his family moved from Somalia to Yemen to escape the civil war. His family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota when he was age 14. Was working as a chauffeur when he was cast in Captain Phillips. He had no previous acting experience or any aspirations to become an actor. From IMDb.