"Tom Hanks plus Zero Dark Thirty equals Oscar," I imagine a studio executive saying right before asking if there was a part for Amanda Seyfried. Yet, for a film that seems engineered to win Academy Awards, it's surprisingly interesting. Whatever cynical calculations were made in the early stages of its production, Captain Phillips is a solid film and an epic look at the high seas (c. 2009). Rather than taking the Zero Dark Thirty route of following one character's obsessive efforts with their duty, the filmmakers focus the story around the fascinating dynamic between Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) and Muse (Barkhad Abdi). The two men are competent captains and products of their circumstances. We empathize with both captains as they carry out their jobs, Phillips by protecting his ship with every available tactic and Muse by trying to hold his fracturing crew together. Director Paul Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray show us Phillips's and Muse's common humanity as well as the differences in their leadership techniques. Neither is loved by their crew, but Phillips commands respect through his knowledge, discipline, and sacrifice, while Muse rules through force. While incurring their crew's wrath, they care for them the best they can (read: trying to keep them alive). The dual focus also manages to make Phillips and Muse pawns in a larger struggle rather than reducing the story to a tale of heroes and villains.
Apart from the disparity in agency between the larger forces and pawns, the juxtaposition of Muse's and Phillips's stories allows for us to see the different lives available in Somalia and the United States. Phillips is calmly dropped off at the airport by his wife while Muse is coerced into his mission. Phillips's crew is quick to cite union regulations while Muse's crew is ready to fight for a spot on the team. When Phillips naively asks "aahn't theyuh any othuh occupations in Somalia," Muse sadly responds "Maybe in America." It's not dealt with subtly, but it's admirable that - when last year's Best ™ Picture ™ Winner ™only really humanized the American characters - Captain Phillips espouses the more complex view that people are products of circumstances rather than choices.
While sometimes a bit too on the nose (see: The Phillips' opening conversation about it "being a different woyuhld out theayuh," Muse explicitly telling Phillips that there may have been opportunities in America but not Somalia), Captain Phillips is a thrilling and thoughtful recounting of a complicated story. Greengrass and Ray try for something more than just a lazy reenactment, and in doing so get us closer to the roots of the incident.
Directed by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy, Green Zone)
Written by Billy Ray (Volcano, Flightplan, Shattered Glass, The Hunger Games)
Cast
Tom Hanks - Capt. Richard Phillips
Barkhad Abdi - Abduwali Muse
Faysal Ahmed - Najee
Michael Chernus - Shane Murphy
Catherine Keener - Andrea Phillips
David Warhofsky - Mike Perry
Corey Johnson - Ken Quinn
Chris Mulkey - John Cronan