Film pick: Captain Phillips (PG)

Captain Phillips (PG)

134 minutes

4.5/5

Based on the true story of the 2009 pirate boarding of the Maersk Alabama, a container ship, off the coast of Somalia.

The first pirate attack on an American-registered ship in over 100 years, it sparked a military action by the United States Navy. Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), taken for ransom on board a small getaway vessel bound for the Somali coast, has to be rescued. Holding him are fishermen-turned-thugs headed by Muse (Barkhad Abdi).

Director Paul Greengrass, using a script adapted from Phillips' own book, keeps the lead character's lionisation and overall American flag-waving under firm control, while at the same time avoiding making the Somali pirates look like cartoon villains.

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