The Agency's Posts

Emma Watson on 'HARRY POTTER':: ‘Nothing would shock menow’ THE LAST SPELL:“Harry Potter and the Deathly....
Read More>

Important Tips for New Talent: Dear New Talent, Welcome to the Agency! Please take a minute to familiarize yourself with our....
Read More>

Your Profile Checklist: Dear Talent, Please take a minute to look over this basic profile checklist - make sure your....
Read More>

The Man WHo Found GAGA: Martin Kierszenbaum has a knack for finding the next big thing Yes, Lady Gaga is huge....
Read More>

'The Undefeated' sets stage for new round of Palin vs. Hollywood: Last fall, Hollywood was pulled into the Sarah Palin media frenzy when "The Social....
Read More>

'Larry Crowne' premiere: Tom Hanks & Julia Roberts: Tom Hanksarrived at the "Larry Crowne" premiere Monday night on the same powder-blue....
Read More>

Can witches beat vampires? True Blood..: Something wicked this way comes with the fourth season of “True Blood,” which premiered....
Read More>

Live review: U2 at Angel Stadium: These days the U2 stage rig, nicknamed “The Claw,” looks better after dark. At dusk....
Read More>

'Cars 2' cruises! 'Bad Teacher' gets A!: The Skinny:Another weekend of blown box-office projections as both "Cars 2" and "Bad....
Read More>

'WILFRED' with Elijah Wood: 'WILFRED' with Elijah Wood The 'Lord of the Rings' star says FX's off-the-wall new series....
Read More>

An online experience for HARRY POTTER fans: Magically minded muggles will be able to experience the “Harry Potter” wizarding....
Read More>

Alexander Skarsgard gets some added bite from 'True Blood': Playing a sexy vampire on the HBO hit has vaulted his career. He has 'Straw Dogs' and 'Melancholia
Read More>
Captain Phillips movie review: Tom Hankss superb performance anchors thrilling tale
Posted on: 10/11/13
Share/Save/Bookmark
 

Those readers who habitually skip past the review to see how many stars a movie has earned might be muttering to themselves about now: Didn’t she just give four stars to “Gravity”? Now “Captain Phillips”? Has she gone that soft?

No, the movies have gotten that good.
 

Captain Phillips,” a taut, finely crafted, superbly acted maritime thriller, is just one of a wave of fabulous films heading our way. It’s autumn, my friends, a time of falling leaves and soaring cinematic standards. Hallelujah, and pass the buttered popcorn.

The two principal artists involved with “Captain Phillips” go a long way in explaining why it works so well: Paul Greengrass, the exacting British director behind such masterpieces as “Bloody Sunday” and “United 93” — as well as a couple of movies with the name “Bourne” in the title — is behind the camera. Tom Hanks — who needs no introduction — is in front of it, in this case playing a modest, hard-nosed merchant mariner who in 2009 was hijacked and kidnapped by Somali criminals while his ship was delivering commercial goods, water, food and fuel to Kenya. As “Captain Phillips” opens, Richard Phillips is driving from his pretty Vermont farmhouse to the airport, chatting with his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), who sends him off with a perfunctory “Have a safe trip.”

It won’t be, as anyone knows who recalls the harrowing five-day ordeal of the real-life Capt. Phillips, who calmly ensured the safety of his crew and then continued to keep his wits about him while being held captive in a cramped lifeboat.

“Captain Phillips” is based on his memoir of the event, which was widely reported in newspapers and on television. But Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray (“Shattered Glass”) go one step further, introducing viewers to the poverty, desperation and cynicism that converge to lead four Somali fishermen to go to work for a warlord, attacking container ships and absconding with their cargo. High on khatand armed to the teeth, the particular thieves in question are led by a charismatic young man named Muse (the terrific newcomer Barkhad Abdi), who, once he boards the enormous Maersk Alabama, vies with Phillips for control. “I’m the captain now,” he declares at one point.

Once again collaborating with cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, Greengrass hews to a familiar visual style, immersing viewers in the rhythms of Phillips’s day and familiarizing them with the labyrinthine vessel that doesn’t resemble a boat as much as a vast floating office. (Like Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander,” “Captain Phillips” offers a fascinating tutorial in the humming, hive-like organization of a working sea craft.) Once two tiny skiffs show up — first as a radar blip, then as bobbing, barely distinct omens of oncoming danger — the filmmakers keep “Captain Phillips” on its even keel, allowing the tension to ratchet up organically, rather than by way of self-conscious editing or manipulative music cues. What larger messages “Captain Phillips” conveys — about globalization, consumerism and the clash of radically different supply chains — are delivered deftly rather than with ham-handed polemic; the fact that Phillips was delivering food aid to Africa may be seen by some as a grievous irony and by others as a cruel case study in how foreign aid exacerbates dependence and poverty throughout the continent.

Greengrass’s straightforward style not only keeps “Captain Phillips” from didacticism, but it also is perfectly suited to its protagonist — a bespectacled, by-the-book guy who runs a tight ship, literally and metaphorically. Hanks, who has made something of an art of playing real-life characters, submerges his usual Everyman charm and instead plays up his Everyman blandness, allowing Phillips’s sober, quick-thinking character to emerge through behavior rather than stirring speeches or swashbuckling set pieces. The result is a study in movement and action that is as purely cinematic as “Gravity,” a film that may be more far-reaching in its location and visuals, but portrays isolation, dire straits and the wages of Manifest Destiny with similar white-knuckled intensity.

“Captain Phillips” is such an impressive dramatic achievement that it comes as a shock when it gets even better, during a devastating final scene in which Hanks single-handedly dismantles Hollywood notions of macho heroism in one shattering, virtually wordless sequence. That moment, as purely emotional as what went before has been kinetic, makes “Captain Phillips” yet another Greengrass masterpiece. And it reveals why there have been so many: Behind the director’s dispassionate, unfailingly rigorous lens lies an enormous, unfailingly compassionate heart.

 

★ ★ ★ ★

COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal