Synopsys: Tom Hanks in the titular role (that has nothing to
do with boobs) captains a ship through the dangerous waters off the Horn of
Africa. Unable to manipulate the enormous container ship to avoid the fast
approaching pirates, he sacrifices himself and goes aboard his ship’s life raft
with the pirates, as their hostage.
Review: Scary stuff. Not knowing how this true story ended
(and miraculously able to avoid spoilers online), SPOILER ALERT: Captain
Phillips lives! But this movie puts you through the ringer! The sweat, the
tears, the blood, shed by all aboard gives the viewer a seat on the vessel,
right along with the pirates and Phillips. Even when the Navy frigates
approach, it is hard to believe that Phillips will escape alive. The finesse
needed to deal with desperate, young, angry men, who now have nothing to lose,
and full ammo to boot, is something we cannot imagine these tough military men
and women possessing. And of course, the clock is against them, as the Navy
must rescue Phillips before the pirate vessel makes land fall in Somalia.
It all ends in a shoot out, as Phillips is tied up and
blindfolded. Spattered with blood he continually shouts, “What’s happened?!”
and all we want to do is give the guy a big bear hug and tell him he’s fine. Alas,
that is the Navy’s job, and they do it well. Though we know the pirates were the bad guys, it was tough to see them killed, especially the younger one who Phillips bonded with (your basic Stockholm Syndrome). The film ends with Phillips in
shock, being attended to by a young Navy doctor, who says “awesome” at least
once, which feels weird.
This
film made my hart race and caused me to whittle my nails down to nubbins,
though I still managed to eat half a bucket of popcorn. And even after watching
what Captain Phillips went through on the high seas, I still consider that to
be quite a feat.
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