If you give any real world event to Paul Greengrass, the end
result is not going to be all cuddles and smiles. His most famous ventures into
the real world, Bloody Sunday and United 93, were both bereft of Hollywood
fluff, giving them a gritty and often emotionally jarring edge, and keeping
audiences invested – often on the edge of their seats – in spite of knowing
what the exact outcome will be. Greengrass is not one to pull punches and,
although his work on the Bourne series showed he has the chops to shoot high
octane action, he seems more in his comfort zone when deftly handling both the
big screen thrills and meticulously explored emotional conflicts, which United 93 did so well. His most recent
film, Captain Phillips, sits very comfortably with its
critically acclaimed brothers.
Adapted from the real Captain Richard Phillips’ account of
the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates in 2009, Captain Phillips is a tense,
claustrophobic re-telling of the events in an almost documentarian fashion,
much in the same way as United 93. As
the Somali pirates board the ship with the plan to ransom it and its crew to
the insurance company in order to get themselves a huge payday, the wide open
seas suddenly feel very cramped; there’s all the Indian Ocean around them but
the crew are stuck hiding down in the engine room. While Phillips gives the
pirates a “tour” of the ship, the tension ramps up akin to the last half an
hour of Argo as Ben Affleck’s Tony
Mendez attempts to get the US diplomats through security and out of Iran. The
tension doesn’t really let go, from the moment the pirates appear in the skiffs
as dots on both the horizon and the radar screen to the last few seconds.
With Billy Ray – of the excellent Shattered Glass and Breach
fame – at the writing helm, there’s not an ounce of Hollywood cliché here, and
all the more for it. There are no shots of the family of the crew worriedly
checking the radio and TV for news of the incident as would be typical in such
a film, and this lack of flashiness is to its benefit; keeping most of the film
in a bubble around the Maersk Alabama and, later, its pirate-commandeered
lifeboat.
Even Tom Hanks, the only piece of star casting in the film –
although that may change as Barkhad Abdi’s role as pirate captain Muse looks to
be a breakout one – as the eponymous Richard Phillips, throws himself into a
character who is simply a ‘by-the-books’ type of guy, practical and meticulous
in the running of his ship, thrust into an extreme situation. Yet there is such
emotional depth within that practicality in Hanks’ performance that it’s hard
not to throw praise at his feet, particularly in the final moments of the film
in which Phillips is overcome by the situation and breaks down. This is a man
with around 30 years in the film industry, and he’s only getting better.
Phillips’ beauty as a character is that he isn’t a hero.
He’s an ordinary man, granted he probably has more metal than anybody else to
ensure the safety of both the ship and its crew, just doing everything he was
told to do if such a situation were to arise. He improves where he can,
tricking the pirates into thinking helicopters are on their way or by firing
flares at the boat, but he’s no Superman. Nor are the Navy who come to rescue
him portrayed as guardian angels. Similarly, the pirates aren’t quite villains;
things aren’t quite as clear cut as that. Muse and his fellow pirates are
barely men yet this is the only life they know. Abdi and his supporting
Somalian cast mates, all of whom make their cinematic debut here, play the
pirates with such emotion that it’s easy to find yourself rooting for the
pirates, particularly when the might of the Navy comes crashing down upon them
as their plan goes to pieces around them. The exchange between Phillips and
Muse about how there is no better life for the pirates, as two vastly different
economic and generational cultures collide, comes off as completely sincere
where it could come off as overly sentimental; a testament to how great Hanks
and Abdi are in their roles.
Where many others might play this story as a schlocky action
thriller, no doubt taking liberties with the story in the process, Greengrass
has delivered an emotionally complex, yet no less tense, thriller with star
performances from both the seasoned Hanks and the rookie Abdi. It’s proof
enough that a thriller can be packed with action but also intelligence and
emotion that doesn’t feel overly sentimental. A difficult task for any other
director but, put in the hands of Greengrass, it’s another well-earned notch on
his belt proving this really is what he does best.
