Review of Fishing Without Nets (2014) by Devilmath — 26 Sep 2015

Fishing Without Nets was announced as Cutter Hodierne’s response to Captain Phillips, the drama by Paul Greengrass that premiered at last year’s London Film Festival. The two films have a very similar subject: a pirate story set in modern Somali waters. Whereas Greengrass’s feature was a high-tension thriller, told from the point of view of the American cargo being hijacked, Fishing Without Nets switches the perspective, having the pirates as protagonists. Released officially in the U.S. at the beginning of October, Hodierne’s first feature has struggled to convince audiences and critics, and feels more like a missed opportunity.

Fishing Without Nets might not star celebrities of Tom Hanks’s caliber, but all its actors portray their characters very convincingly, especially lead actor Abdikani Muktar. His character, Abdi, is a Somali fisherman who joins a local group of pirates to support his family. The struggle between his will to keep his traditional, honest job, and the lure of making easy money with the pirates is a perfect example of the social fatalism that distinguishes the film. Fishing Without Nets reiterates the assumption that most men are forced into piracy, but it doesn’t dwell enough on the social or cultural causes of this phenomenon; all the focus is on the hijack, the struggle for power between the pirates, their disorganisation and inability to deal with things bigger than them. Although the plot significantly differs from Captain Phillips, and is certainly not as compelling or suspenseful, Fishing Without Nets mirrors the American drama quite efficiently; however, it lacks in contextualisation,and oversimplifies its most important and high-potential aspect.