Saturday 21 December 2013

Adam's Films of the Year - No 2


This was my No1 film until 24 hours ago when I changed my mind back to my original choice. Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips is the 'true' story about a cargo ship overtaken by Somali pirates and the rescue mission that was put in motion. The acting is so raw and realistic it's almost as if it was improvised on the spot. Tom Hanks is on his A-Game here especially in his last scene but it's the Somali pirates that steal (no pun intended) the show. Apparently the American based actors who played the pirates were plucked from obscurity during city auditions across the country but you'd think they had played law-breakers all their lives.
The film itself isn't given any kind of Hollywood makeover, what happened during the film apparently happened in real life. The only contradiction seems the be the bravery of the captain himself. According to the actual crew, Captain Phillips was 30 miles from the African Coast whereas all ships were advised to stay over 100 miles away from it. It is this behaviour that some of the crew stated that Phillips flouted as if he wanted to be boarded but the film ony shows the 'brave and courageous Captain Phillips'. To put all that to one side, I picked this as my no 2 film because it was absolutely gripping and intense. I didn't remember how the actual events played out so it was new to me but I'd guess that viewers who did know the story would find it equally exciting.

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