A singular and intense film, successful largely due to the strength of its performances and the incredible true story that forms the basis of “Captain Phillips”. The film builds to become a fist clenching, thrill ride at the edge of the world.

Perhaps what makes this film a bit more poignant is the ‘true-story’ element of the plot; these events happened and were front-page news during early April of 2009. This allows for the film to have an extra bit of traction as it sucks the audience in for the wild ride on the high seas, but also to deliver an unexpected social commentary that is so often lacking from current films of the genre.

Easily the best performance of Tom Hanks’ career, taking the helm as the titular ‘Captain (Richard) Phillips,’ he’s believable for every moment he is on screen. Phillips is a real-world person and Hanks does his level-best to portray him as such: clever, serious, clear-headed, emotional but ultimately human in an earnest way, sure to generate Oscar buzz.

Praises should also be applied liberally to the rest of the cast, who play their roles in a similar vein to Hanks, dramatic but always realistic. Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi, who plays the Somali pirate captain Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, shines in a breakout performance; he rightly draws particular mention for his intense presence.  He is often as menacing as he is charismatic.  Abdi is a great foil to Hanks and as believable as any villain in recent film history.

Paul Greengrass, of “Bourne Supremacy” and “Bourne Ultimatum” fame, directs in a good effort. The scenes are almost always tense and focused; Greengrass is instrumental in the final moments, delivering an emotional crescendo that could be best described as heart-attack-inducing. However, Greengrass uses a bit too many establishing shots especially in the first half of the movie which tend to break-up the action at points when emotions seem to be gaining momentum.

The actual cinematography, handled well by Barry Ackroyd, is incredibly crisp. In order to capture the raw emotions of the actors, Ackroyd frequently uses close-ups which also give the film  an atmosphere of claustrophobia, much like being on a ship. Yet, the shaky camera style, in which much of the film is shot, is at times distracting in the troublesome first half hour.

Screenwriter Billy Ray, known for thrillers such as “Volcano”, “Breach” and “The Hunger Games”, delivers a solid script with dialogue and scenes that are on the whole successful. A criticism that could be leveled in his direction is the ponderous opening half hour, filled with exposition and short on storytelling. The material is never bad, but could have been tightened-up just a tad more to keep the audience from getting bored.

Overall, this is a deeply-layered thriller that tells a compelling story nearly impossible to not emphasize with. Hanks, Abdi and the rest of the cast are magnetic, though Greengrass and Ray undercut the exemplary acting, to an extent.

Grade: B+.

– Price Zimmer, Review God