Taglines: Out here survival is everything.
Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is – through Paul Greengrass’s distinctive lens – simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization.
The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.
Captain Phillips is an American action thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks. The film is a biopic of Captain Richard Phillips who was taken hostage by Somali Pirates during the Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009.
The film is directed by Paul Greengrass, from a screenplay by Billy Ray based upon the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca. It is scheduled to be released on October 11, and will have its premiere showing at the 2013 New York Film Festival.
About the Story (2013)
Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) takes command of the MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Gulf of Aden to Mombasa in the African Great Lakes region. Wary of pirate activity off the coast of the Horn of Africa, he and First Officer Shane Murphy (Michael Chernus) order strict security precautions on the vessel and carry out practice drills. During a drill, the vessel is chased by Somali pirates in two skiffs, and Phillips calls for help. Knowing that the pirates are listening to radio traffic, he pretends to answer the call and to promise immediate air support. One skiff turns around in response, and the other loses engine power trying to steer through the Alabama’s wake.
The next day one of the skiffs, fitted with both outboard engines, returns with four heavily armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Despite the best efforts of Phillips and his crew, the pirates secure their ladder to the Maersk Alabama. As they board, Phillips tells the crew to hide in the engine room and allows himself to be captured. He offers Muse the $30,000 in the ship’s safe, but Muse’s orders are to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company.
While they search the ship, Murphy sees that the youngest pirate Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman) does not have sandals and tells the crew to line the engine room hallway with broken glass. Chief Engineer Mike Perry (David Warshofsky) cuts power to the ship, plunging the lower decks into darkness. Bilal cuts his feet when they reach the engine room, and Muse continues to search alone. The crew members ambush Muse and arrange to release him into a lifeboat to get the intruders off the ship. However, the pirates refuse to release Phillips, and the lifeboat launches with all five of them on board.
As the lifeboat heads for the shore, tensions flare between the pirates as they run low on the herb stimulant khat and lose contact with their mother ship. Najee (Faysal Ahmed) becomes agitated and tries to convince the others to kill Phillips. They are later intercepted by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge. The Bainbridge ’s captain Frank Castellano (Yul Vazquez) is ordered to prevent the pirates from reaching the mainland by any means necessary. Even when additional ships arrive, Muse asserts that he has come too far and will not surrender. The negotiators are unable to change his mind and a DEVGRU SEAL team parachutes in to intervene.
Captain Phillips (2013)
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, John Magaro, Max Martini, Michael Chernus, Chris Mulkey
Screenplay by: Billy Ray
Production Design by: Paul Kirby
Cinematography by: Barry Ackroyd
Film Editing by: Christopher Rouse
Costume Design by: Mark Bridges
Set Decoration by: Dominic Capon, Corey Hughes-Shaw
Music by: Henry Jackman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and for substance use.
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: October 11, 2013
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