Tom Hanks as “Captain Phillips” is a hit. The Paul Greengrass thriller will finish at number 2 this weekend with around $25 million. Oscar noms are forthcoming. Our LEAH SYDNEY loved it. Here’s her glowing review:
Sony’s “Captain Phillip” is heart throbbing, heart pounding and heart stopping from beginning to end. Director Paul Greengrass, (‘United 93,’) is true to his genius kinetic filmmaking. We all know the story by now: Tom Hanks stars as Richard Phillips, the Captain of an American cargo ship, who was taken hostage for five days in the isolated waters of Somalia.
No one does thrilling better than Greengrass, he could film the yellow pages and make it exciting, and the movie is expertly engrossing from beginning to end. And no one does ordinary man faced with extraordinary challenges better than Hanks. The scene where he is rescued and being examined by an army medic, so not a spoiler we all how it ends, will be etched in moviegoers’ memories forever. His delayed reaction of what he just endured is acting gold and the impact is shattering.
Kudos to noted casting director Francine Maisler for finding the unknown actors who play the Somali pirates, Barkhad Abdi and Faysal Ahmed; they are just terrific. The intense, tight screenplay by Billy Ray is just right. And the score by Henry Jackman keeps you riveted as well.
‘Captain Phillips,’ with its perfect craftsmanship in every facet of it’s making, is a true American hero story for the ages.
