Movie: Captain Phillips

With the trailer both frightening and captivating me every time I saw it, the film proposed to be almost too frightening to watch. It’s a 12a and I wouldn’t take a child to see it but then a child maybe wouldn’t find it as harrowing as I did. It is, after all, about pirates.But take away the romantic cartoon image of pirates and put in those who have warlord  ‘bosses’ and are under pressure to do anything to steal your ship and cargo and knowing that this happens in the real world today, this is no fairy tale.And that’s what’s so frightening.I did prize my finger-tips away from my eyes once the pirates were on board the ship. This part of the trailer was what frightened me most and I had no idea what was going to happen next. I was pretty sure that someone will lose their life, not having read about the true story which happened just a short four years ago. Imagine.Captain Phillips, surely an Oscar-winning performance from Tom Hanks, leads his crew giving precise instructions calmly even as pirates are boarding his ship – the first American vessel to be reportedly hijacked in 200 years. He was fully aware that this may happen and the film shows him taking extra security measures and researching news stories. Whilst the pirates are on board, which is a relatively short but intense while, the whole crew play their part trying to out-smart them. Even though they cannot consult with one another, they leave each other clever, life-saving clues helped and hindered by the realisation that the four pirates are high on some plant they are addicted to chewing.I have some major issues with the rescue plan, including:The captain dial’s in an SOS and having not been able to get through the US line tries Europe and a British voice tells them to do what they have already done on the first highjack attempt – use water hoses etc – as they are probably ‘just fishermen’.The help wasn’t sent out straight away and instead a navy ship hundreds of miles out was directed towards them. No planes.At one point the starving, tired, dehydrated captain escaped and swam into the water and the navy seals didn’t go after him as they weren’t sure if they were pirates or him. Surely you’d go after them anyway?The emotional drain on the Captain runs through every person watching this movie, especially in the last few crucial minutesA magnificent film that highlighted the faults of the Americans as the pirates referred to them including not having armed protection on the ship.In other news, imagine Tom Hanks playing you in a film!I’m off to order the book that this is based on to read the first hand account.8½/10Smile factor: 3/10 (in the last minute mixed with tears)Coffee Rating: Americano