This is what Capt. Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) encounters throughout Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips. Based on real (and recent) events, it's a taut film that doesn't let go until the very end. Then again, when you have a film directed, written and shot by the men also responsible for United 93, Shattered Glass and The Hurt Locker respectively, what else would you expect?
It feels like such a sell-out when a front page story gets turned into a movie within five years of first hitting the press. (The events in Captain Phillips take place in April 2009.) But Greengrass pulls no punches with this. No Hollywood treatment, just the facts of the story. Again, this is the man who made United 93.
It also feels like a bit of a sell-out when you have an A-list actor like Hanks in the title role. (A stark contrast to the roster of unknowns in United 93.) But once the story begins, all doubts are cast aside. What Hanks does in his final scene has to be one of the most staggeringly brilliant pieces of acting I've ever seen.
Captain Phillips is quite simply put a transfixing film. Much like United 93, it will give you one hell of an emotional beating. Thanks to Hanks' performance, Greengrass' vision, Billy Ray's script and Barry Ackroyd's keen eye, they make Captain Phillips a film you simply must see.
My Rating: *****
Isn't the final scene just wonderful? I seriously wanted to throw up, his acting really got to me. I really hope he gets an Oscar, just for that scene alone.
ReplyDeleteIt is a brilliant film, this one. It definitely doesn't pull any punches. It is brutal, terrifying and intense. The kind of film we don't get very often.
Great review. I LOVED the emotional beating this flick gave me. Hanks is back, baby.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see this! Everyone I know has been raving about Hanks' performance, I just...I need to see it.
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