Review of Captain Phillips (2013) by Jens S — 18 Jul 2016

The film's much discussed and likely inaccuracies aside, when it comes to the portrayal of real occurrences of recent history, it doesn't get much better than this. The direction, the script, the acting all work in favor of a realistic, sobering and terrifying retelling of events.

Tom Hanks delivers one of his strongest performances of the last 15 years as regular man getting thrown into events beyond his own control. Especially the last couple of scenes stay with you for a very long time.

Sure, the showdown feels a bit like a Navy Seals recruitment video, but even that doesn't take anything away from the film's power and desperate atmosphere. It's the only part that feels even remotely hollywoodized anyway, the rest is as gritty and unpleasant as you imagine the hijacking of a freighter ship to be.

Much praise has to go to the amateur actors in the Somali roles too. Not only do they give their characters a threatening face, they also look beyond the veil and ask for the reasons behind such desperate measures.