CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (Paul Greengrass, 2013)

[tabuno]

There's seemingly a fine line between authentic portrayal and dramatic pacing and with Captain Phillips, the problem, and perhaps the only one, seems to be that authentic portrayal won out much more than the pacing so that the captivating elements of the movie were not always consistently presented. The beginning and especially the ending of the movie, one of the most penetratingly intriguing scenes in film, another Tom Hanks' Saving Private Ryan (1998) moment featured at the end of that movie, were compellingly presented in their almost vicarious, documentary style that brought the audience into a vividly convincing world, almost as if one were watching a real world quality homemade film capturing real living of particular interest on screen. Yet like a homemade movie, there were moments that seemed to stall and lose their energetic vitality so that the editing just didn't allow the audience to maintain that zestful interest throughout the movie. Even a movie based on a true events such as Fly Away Home (1996) or the fictional dramatic documentary style presentation of sci-fi horror Apollo 18 (2011) had a continuous flow to their presentations. Even as long ago as the 60s, Milton Krasner was nominated for best black and white cinematography for Fate Is The Hunter (1964) a pseudo-documentary style of an investigation into a major airline crash that presented its material in a well edited, serious, but well-paced fashion. Other well edited and audience-friendly paced movie of Captain Phillip's likeness might be United 93 (2006), the military drama Jarhead (2005), and Munich (2005), even Argo (2012). What does really shine about this movie is its focus on the primary characters and the psychological interaction and the natural ambiance about the entire movie making this authentic presentation much more meaningful and penetrating for the audience.

[Johann]

I've read that the film is well made and that Hanks gives another fine performance.
And I've also read that the film is inaccurate, and the real, actual crew members of the ship feel that Phillips put their lives at risk.
Creative license is necessary sometimes.

[Chris Knipp]

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS was the opening night film of this year's NYFF and so I reviewed it here. In my review you will find that Tobias Lindholm's Danish film A HIJACKING (ND.NF 2013) is so much better it doesn't matter how "well" Greengrass's movie is done, which is debatable anyway. I have heard so many people tell me this, that they saw Lindholm's film and it's better, more interesting, more true to what most of the many Somali hijackings (never noted in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS) are like and a ore complex and balanced film. Agreed the weepy, shaky moment Hanks has at the end is interesting. On the other hand his early moments are typically boring, and he does not create an interesting character.

The essence is that this event was a typical American one in which the little Somali pirates were wiped out by US military overkill. Most hijackings are situations quite unlike this in which the ship and its crew are held hostage and as in A HIJACKING the company back at home has to negotiate with the hijackers, who want money. In CAPTAIN PHILLIPS the captain follows a policy of continual deception. Normally that would not work. He continually lies to the hijackers. Normally that would only antagonize them and lead to escalating trouble. I agree with tabuno that the movie is choppy. I don't find that the latter part makes much sense. I find the praise that has been heaped on CAPTAIN PHILLIPS puzzling, except that it's not surprising because a lot of big American movies are getting overpraised and one begins to wonder if more than a handful of mainstream reviewers have any independence now.

[Johann]

The essence is that this event was a typical American one in which the little Somali pirages were wiped out by US military overkill.

It's a good story for a film. I can hear it being pitched to movie studio bosses:
"We'll get Tom Hanks as the Captain. He is America incarnate. Who can be against Captain Hanks? NO ONE! It's a slam dunk! We get a cathartic thrill out of killing Somali pirates, (even if it is a movie) and we get TOM HANKS! He's America INCARNATE. " LOL

I'm being cheeky, but really, this film is wrapped up in a bow.
Not sure if seeing Somali pirates getting their just-desserts is enough for me to buy a ticket....

[Chris Knipp]

I stand by that. I corrected my typo of "pirates" as "Pirages" [sic] though. I continue to recommend seeing Lidholm's A HIJACKING . Others at Lincoln Center who'd seen it agreed with me that it's superior. Actually someone in Paris liked it too. It's a complex, smart film. It's not a celebration of America though. Sorry.