I was a bit surprised by this film. I’d heard the complaints from crew members that the story deviates from the truth and that Capt. Phillips wasn’t exactly the hero the film portrays. I knew it was a fairly long movie–would I be bored with endless water and evil-acting, inhuman pirates? Still, it WAS starring Tom Hanks….
It was a great film. Non-stop edge-of-seat action which didn’t depend on wrecked cars, bloody gun battles, and sex scenes that lasted longer than humanly possible. Good acting. Interesting characters. Realistic story-line in terms of the problem of piracy along the African coast and the fact (as recent events attest) that Americans are perceived as prime targets for kidnapping because we’re all rich. There was even a hint of an actual social justice concern (close to my heart): poverty-stricken men making a living, often reluctantly, by hiring on with the pirate boss, who considers them worthless and expendable because there are so many of them.
I’m sorry, Capt. Phillips crew members, but I thought this was a movie well worth seeing.
