Captain Phillips: Movie Review

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Stars

When I first exited the theater I felt the film deserved a strong 4.75 Stars out of 5, because it seemed perfect, but I digress.

Pirate fever started in 2003 with the invention of the great Jack Sparrow.  Piracy was cool again.  Soon everyone wanted to be a Pirate, even creating September 19th "Talk Like a Pirate" day, and the famed Disney Park ride got an uplift.  But it seemed that Piracy was a romantic part of histories past, echoes of Treasure Islands, large sails, and corsets.  In 2009 this perception changed.

Instead of random political intrigue gracing the news, it focused on an old maritime pastime: Piracy.  In April 2009 there were a series of events off the Somalia coast, and the MV Maersk Alabama cargo ship was seized, the first ship registered under the American flag to be taken since the early 19th century.

The movie this incident is based on was intense and thoroughly entertaining.  There were many times I found myself holding my breath.  And Tom Hanks acting was spot on; his final moments in the film are absolutely amazing.  His performance perfection.  Though this movie isn't for everyone, it is a wild, well crafted ride.

But that's the problem, this "true story" may not be so "true."

Most true stories are coated with changes and tweaks.  We know things have to be cut down and re-fitted.  But it's those tweaks, when researched, that actually dampen and darken the film, and has left me incredibly turned off, wondering what to think.

Captain Phillips, who this movie is named after and played by Tom Hanks, is portrayed as the hero, making all the right decisions and sacrifices, but he wasn't the hero.  The true hero was actually the chief engineer Mike Perry.  In news gathered by The York Post, where several crew members have filed law suits, claim Captain Phillips, the movie, is "One Big Lie."

"Phillips wasn’t the big leader like he is in the movie,” says one crew member, who, for legal reasons, spoke with The Post anonymously. He worked very closely with Phillips on the Maersk Alabama and was alarmed by his behavior from the beginning. Phillips, he says, had a bad reputation for at least 12 years prior, known as a sullen and self-righteous captain.  “No one wants to sail with him,” he says."

  

One known fact that makes me believe these claims may be true is that Captain Phillips was ordered to sail 600 miles off the coast because of the increase in piracy and other hijackings, but Phillips ignored this, sailing instead at 240 miles off the coast to make good time.  This wasn't at all portrayed in the movie.  Also, when the ship is first attacked the crew was performing a fire drill, not a security drill, and Phillips wouldn't let the crew stop and prepare, instead having them finish practicing the lifeboat portion.

And Phillips didn't order the crew to the bottom of the Engine room, that was Mike Perry.  Every act of heroism during the captor was performed by him, and would have made a Much better story, if the truth was included.  

But the movie is based on a memoir by Captain Phillips himself, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea.

The second half of the movie seems to be accurate, if you believe Wikipedia.

It's a shame, really, because the film truly was enthralling.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and for substance use.