Captain Phillips - 9 stars out of 10

Captain Phillips - 9 stars out of 10

While “Captain Phillips” isn’t the strongest candidate for Best Picture in this year’s Oscars, it is a noteworthy film that has earned its nomination.  The same stereotype comes to all of our minds when we think of pirates but this film creates an entirely new perception of piracy in the modern world.  While the accuracy of Richard Phillips’ heroism during the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama has been questioned, the fascination of this story does not rely solely on Phillips.  I know that everybody is up in arms about Tom Hanks being left out of the Oscar nominations but I agree with the Academy.  Don’t get me wrong, his performance in the final 10 minutes of this film was nothing short of remarkable but the other two hours of the film was the subtle acting that is necessary for this sort of story.  But once you reach that final ten minutes, the disillusionment, confusion, shock, and emotional breakdown of Hanks will make your heart skip a few beats.  What makes this film great is actually the script and the unfolding of the story, revealing the world of Phillips and the world of the Somalians before creating a collision of these opposing lifestyles.  While all of the acting is good, I don’t understand the Best Supporting Actor nomination for Barkhad Abdi (thank goodness this isn’t a video review – I would’ve never been able to pronounce that correctly).  His acting was impressive but I feel like the nomination is a result of it being “different” instead of amazing.  He does have my respect for being such a powerful presence in his debut film (and with so much acting maturity at such a young age, only 8 days older than me!); however,  I would have much rather seen Chris Cooper get the nomination for his incredible monologue in “August: Osage County.”  “Captain Phillips” is destined to win at least one Oscar and it deserves that acknowledgement in a year that produced so many strong films.