Back Rowe Reviews
Real Time Movie Reviews from the Back Row of a Theater

Captain Phillips (PG-13)

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Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Tom Hanks
October 2013

This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!

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Phillips runs a tight ship. Safety drills are abruptly interrupted.

Warship ruse turns back one skiff. Well played, Phillips.

Skinny stages a coup.

One pirate makes the same mistake John McClain did in the first
Die Hard...never walk around barefoot.
Unless you’re a Hobbit.

Stay put in seat 15.
I don’t think I’d move a muscle. Probably wouldn’t breathe either.

Phillips caught writing a note in class. Pays the price.

Three tangos down. Game over.

Not all of this blood is mine. Phenomenal acting by Hanks.
We’ve been waiting for this all movie. A good performance suddenly transforms into the kind of scenery-chewing extravaganza we’ve come to expect from Hanks.

Final analysis: a taut biopic that delivers just what you expect it to.
But little more.

Maintains suspense throughout, but never reaches thriller level intensity.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars. Everything works here except for the predictable “true story” plot.

Paul Greengrass’ (The Bourne Ultimatum) direction is a bit safe here. Everything about the story feels paint-by-numbers. The movie is important for its historical significance, but if the movie had any less dramatic urgency it would be a documentary. Hanks, though central to the story, seems to take a back seat to Skinny and the Glass Walkers (would make a great blues band name). As was mentioned earlier, Hanks only shines in one scene near the end of the film…an egregious waste of his talent. This story was big news in 2009. As such, what the movie gains in familiarity it looses in originality. Or to put it another way, it’s hard to build suspense when the audience already knows what’s going to happen in the end (like when viewing Titanic or The Perfect Storm). A thriller with a foregone conclusion isn’t much of a thriller.