Captain Phillips 
Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Michael Chrenus, Catherine Keener, Yul Vazquez, Max Martini
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 134 mins
Genre: Biography/ Crime/ Drama
Opens October 11th
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Another film opening this week is not only based on a book, but was headline making news a few years ago. Based on the 2009 account of the kidnapping and hijacking of the Maersk Alabama ship and it’s captain, Captain Richard Phillips, held captive by a group of rag-tag Somali pirates. There has been early chatter that Tom Hanks may be in the running for another piece of hardware to add to his award pile, so how does he do?
Based on the events of the spring of 2009, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) was preparing for any other ship route that he has run in the past. There had been several alerts from government agencies warning about the pirate activity of the coast of Somalia, which Capt. Phillips took seriously. He and his crew took the proper procedures and when a group of 4 Somali pirates invades their ship, no one could imagine how far up the chain this event would escalate to. When the US Military gets involved, things get very real, very quick. Will the pirates succeed in collecting $10 million dollars for ransom or will they have a most unfortunate end?
What stands out in this film is hands-down the performances of Tom Hanks and one of the Somali pirates, played by Faysal Ahmed. The last 30 minutes play out so intense and so well done that as a viewer, can sit back identify with the emotions being portrayed by these actors. The first half of the film plays out a little slow but builds momentum that, by the end scenes, the payoff of the final moments makes the whole film worth the watch. In this reviewer’s opinion, this is Tom Hanks's best performance since “Castaway”, in the way he performs alone towards the end. The performance is subtle, relatable and powerful. Be sure to check out “Captain Phillips” when it opens in theaters nationwide starting Friday October 11, 2013.
