If you've been following the Cineworld blog lately, you may be aware of the hype circulating around factual hijack drama Captain Phillips. If not, a) where have you been? and b) let us bring you up to speed.
On 8 April 2009, Captain Richard Phillips was thrust into a terrifying situation. Some 200 miles off the coast of Somalia, Phillips’ cargo ship the Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates. The captain and his crew were in mortal danger – mercifully, four days later they emerged unharmed from their harrowing ordeal.
Now, just four years later, Paul Greengrass (director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) has brought the story to the big screen. In the past, Greengrass has won acclaim for edgy, ripped-from-the-headlines offerings like Bloody Sunday and United 93.
Unsurprisingly, realism was a priority for the director when it came to making Captain Phillips. “I wanted to shoot on water and in real ships, Greengrass explains. “That, of course, gives it an authenticity and sense of excitement.”
With double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks in the role of Captain Phillips himself, it’s a film with Hollywood star power, as well as grittiness, in its favour. “Tom is absolutely fantastic in this film,” Greengrass says of the ever-popular actor. “He gives a powerful, brilliant performance as an ordinary man facing the most intense peril.”
Sounds to us like all the elements are in place for a nail-biting yet provocative thriller. Captain Phillips is released on 18 October.
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