As always, Tom Hanks' performance was impeccable. And the Somali-American newcomer, Barkhad Abdi, lived up to all the critical acclaim and Golden Globes nomination for Best Supporting Actor. They both did an incredible job. But so did everyone in it. The smaller roles were so well played I felt like the actors must have been hired as amateurs who in real life were ship first mates and Navy medics etc.
But most of the credit has to go to Paul Greengrass, who proved he's a master at documentary-like realism in movies based on "fact" as he did with UNITED 93 and BLOODY SUNDAY, and fast-paced action that has you on the seat of your chair, like two of the Bourne trilogy movies. The tension in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS begins pretty early into the movie and from there basically doesn't stop until the end credits.
I was still vibrating from the adrenalin rush long after the film ended. Not always what I want to experience, but it worked in this movie.
[There have been objections to the veracity of this flick, with some saying it strays pretty from the truth in some ways, at least the truth of the characters' personalities. But as a film it worked for me.]
2 comments:
Yeah, Greengrass is a great talent. In addition to his flicks that you mention, he did "Greenzone", which is sadly under-appreciated. And, Greengrass can slug it out with the best of them in big-budget action thrillers like "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum." In the case of the Bourne movies, don't forget they were parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy. Greengrass had some big shoes to fill in replacing Doug Liman, whose direction of "The Bourne Identity" set a high standard. To this day I can still remember what a total rush "Identity" was.
~ Willy
I can watch the Bourne trilogy, all three or any one of them, anytime. And thanks for reminding me of GREENZONE Willy, which was a totally underrated movie.
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