Captain Phillips: 2013

Screenplay: Billy Ray
Director: Paul Greengrass                                   Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd 

 So I lied to all of you guys... I said I'd review "Rush" next, but I changed my mind. Instead I'll be reviewing the new movie "Captain Phillips" which is directed by Paul Greengrass. (kind of a sketchy name if you ask me)

   "Captain Phillips" tells the semi-true story of Captain Richard Phillips and his Maersk Alabama cargo ship, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in over two hundred years. The real Captain Phillips is supposedly not the brightest or nicest guy in the world, and apparently the movie's storyline doesn't quite match up with the real story. I'm sure that the reason for this was so that Captain Phillips' character  could be molded into something more courageous. All of this aside, "Captain Phillips" had a pretty decent storyline. There were no obvious flaws in the story because it's really quite simple, there isn't a whole lot going on at once.  The story starts to slow down towards the middle of the film because like a real hostage scenario, there isn't much happening when the hostage is being held in captivity. Just A LOT of waiting.

   With "Forrest Gump" as one of my favorite movies as a kid, I can't exactly agree with the people that think "Captain Phillips" is "Tom Hanks's best work yet." I do think that he was quite good in this film, and there was one point in the film where Phillips is supposed to be in shock, and Tom Hanks looks exactly like what I picture someone in shock to look like. That scene made me like the movie a lot more and really displayed Tom Hanks's acting ability.

   Okay, lets get technical. The film was shot mainly with very closeup, shaky-cam shots of scenes and characters. The shaky-cam is a cool effect to have for some portions of the movie, but I started to get really tired of seeing the same shaky, tight, and uncomfortable shot over and over again. Many of the interior shots of the lifeboat almost made me feel claustrophobic, although I'm sure that was their purpose.  I'm sure the handheld look won't bother most people, but I felt that it was overused and kind of distracting from what was happening. If "Captain Phillips" were re-shot minus the shaky stuff, I think I would have really enjoyed the movie. "Captain Phillips" was by no means "a bad movie" but I really wished that it was shot differently.

7.8/10

Watch The Trailer Here