Constant state of threat and dread

Tom Hanks AFP FILE PHOTO

Tom Hank’s latest starrer, “Captain Phillips,” is an arresting viewing experience—but, we can’t say that we “enjoyed” it. The fact-based film about the captain of a US container ship hijacked by Somali pirates kept us on tenterhooks from start to finish, but the empathetic experience was more stressful than dramatically “exciting.”

Phillips and his crewmen were for the most part the scruffy pirates’ helpless victims, unable to fight back because they didn’t have the weapons that would have matched the pirates’ long arms and firepower. Thus, they may have used their superior intelligence and seafaring smarts to even up the odds a bit, but they couldn’t mount the coordinated counterattack needed to teach the all-powerful pirates a lesson they’d never forget.

This being the case, the viewer felt helpless, and suffered along with the poor hostages, every step of the way.

All-important insurance

Our ordeal increased even more when the other sailors were released—but Phillips remained the pirates’ prisoner, their all-important insurance that the ship’s multimillion-dollar ransom would be paid.

Thus, toward the film’s end, its arduous story became a psychological mano-a-mano duel of wits between the captain and the Somali ex-fisherman, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who headed the ragtag pirate band.

To his credit, the unknown actor held his own in his daunting scenes with the far more experienced Hanks. If he had done less well, it would have severely hobbled the film, because it would have jarred the exquisite balance needed for the film’s central conflict to develop and peak in a believable suspenseful way.

The other Somali characters were also exceedingly well-cast and portrayed, coming across as challengingly different individuals, whose personal tics and motives could have taken the storytelling into all sorts of unpredictable directions.

This unpredictability may be stressful on the non-Somali characters and viewers alike, but it’s a key factor that bolsters the production’s constant state of threat and dread. At any time, one of the pirates could act rashly and kill or severely injure somebody, so nobody can afford to relax!

More daunting

At the same time, while the pirates’ amateurishness is an important and relevant consideration, what eventually emerges is the contrary yet key perception that there’s method and a measure of professionalism to their seeming rashness and “madness.”

As a result, the duel between Phillips and the pirates’ own “captain” becomes even more daunting than ever, and viewers are “miserably” unsure of who will ultimately end up on top.

Thank goodness, toward the end, the US Navy, the SEALS in particular, get in on the action, and effect the amazing, split-second rescue of Phillips that the news media kept raving about right after it happened: Four crack snipers were assigned to keep each pirate in his sight—then, on cue, shots were fired—and everyone other than the stunned hostage ended up dead!

This feels like a “Hollywoodized” finale, amped up to make the denouement more exciting than it was, but we’re told that this is actually what transpired when Phillips was rescued, in real life and on real time!

Life can sometimes be even more amazing than the movies? Gotcha.