Captain Phillips

The Somali Ultimatum

Before going to the film, it may be a good idea to catch up with the wikipedia on Somali Pirates

As with many challenges that plague the world today, this could also be a classic case of treating the symptom than the cause.

Permit me to now to share the flutters of joy and a wonderfully liberating evening.

Consider this, a giant liner, however fast it goes, against the expanse of ocean is a picture of static magnificence. Out of nowhere emerge two skiffs (a small boat, Also check out on the methodology of the Somali pirates in Wikipedia) which begin chasing the giant liner. The giant liner revs up and increases its speed, still it remains a piece of static magnificence. With these constraints it is difficult to capture this chase visually. What does the director do? Inventive enough to convert this into a riveting chase by magically mixing it with his signature shots, smart editing and some extraordinary music.

Paul the director, nay a magician, builds an illusion of dynamism and carves a movie out of a documentary with verve, skill and panache. Bill Ray, the screenwriter must get an equal share of the credit.

I just loved the background score and Oh! Boy, those adrenalin pumping percussion score, (African I suspect). They just go for the jugular.

Last but not the least, Captain Philip(Tom Hanks). This captain is smart, thoughtful, cunning, daring, unrelenting, patient, concerned, nervous, fidgety and vulnerable. Hanks surprised me with a slice of Denzelesque(Captain Boon, Remember the Titans) assertion.

Fifteen years back, Hanks, was the uber cool English Teacher turned Captain in Saving Private Ryan. My reverence for Captain John Miller, lies in his magical parting words to private Ryan, "Earn it, Captain".

Maybe Hanks was a straight choice for this role, but somewhere in my heart, I felt Hanks should not have done this role and left it to someone, just out of respect for Captain John Miller!!!!!