Richard Phillips takes command of MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container vessel from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Wary of pirate activity off the coast of the Horn of Africa, he and First Officer Shane Murphy order strict security precautions on the vessel and carry out a practice drill. During the drill, the captain notices that the vessel is being followed by Somali pirates in two skiffs, and Phillips calls for help. Knowing that the pirates are listening to radio traffic, he pretends to call a warship, requesting immediate air support. One skiff turns around in response, and the other – crewed by four heavily armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse – loses engine power trying to steer through Maersk Alabama's wake.
The next day, Muse's skiff, now fitted with two outboard engines, returns with the same four pirates aboard. Despite the efforts of Phillips and his crew, the pirates secure their ladder to the ship. As they board, Phillips tells the crew to hide in the engine room, just before the pirates storm the bridge and hold Phillips and the other crew members at gunpoint. Phillips offers Muse the $30,000 in the ship's safe, but Muse's orders are to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company. While they search the ship, Shane sees that the youngest pirate Bilal does not have sandals and tells the crew to line the engine room hallway with broken glass.
Chief Engineer Mike Perry deactivates the power to the ship, plunging the lower decks into darkness. Bilal cuts his feet when they reach the engine room, and Muse continues to search alone. The crew members ambush Muse, holding him at knifepoint, and arrange to release him and the other pirates into a lifeboat. However, Muse's right-hand man Nour Najee refuses to board the lifeboat with Muse unless Phillips goes with them. Once all are on the lifeboat, Najee attacks Phillips, forcing him into the vessel before launching the boat with all five of them on board.
As the lifeboat heads for Somalia, tensions flare between the pirates as they run low on the plant-based amphetamine khat that they have been eating, and they lose contact with their mother ship. Najee becomes agitated and begins to question Muse’s leadership when they are intercepted by the U.S. NavydestroyerUSS Bainbridge. Bainbridge's captain Frank Castellano is ordered to prevent the pirates from reaching the Somali coast by any means. Even when additional ships arrive, Muse asserts that he has come too far and will not surrender. The negotiators are unable to change his mind, and a team from DEVGRU parachutes in to intervene, while Phillips attempts to escape from the lifeboat before being quickly recaptured and repeatedly beaten by Najee.
While three DEVGRU marksmen get into positions, Castellano and DEVGRU continue to try to find a peaceful solution, eventually taking the lifeboat under tow. Muse agrees to board Bainbridge, where he is told that his clan elders are arriving to negotiate Phillips's ransom. In the lifeboat, Phillips prepares a goodbye letter to his wife in case he is killed, while Najee decides to take full control. Najee spots Phillips writing the letter and snatches it. Phillips retaliates by beating Najee until Bilal subdues Phillips by striking him in the back with his AK-47.
The pirates tie up and blindfold Phillips and Najee beats Phillips further and berates Bilal and Elmi for their protests, even stating that they've been tricked by the Navy as the elders didn't come to negotiate. As Najee prepares to shoot Phillips, Bainbridge's crew stops the tow, causing Elmi, Bilal, and Najee to lose balance. This gives the marksmen three clear shots, by which they simultaneously kill all three pirates. Muse is arrested and taken into custody for piracy. Phillips is rescued from the lifeboat and his injuries are treated. Although in shock and disoriented, he thanks the rescue team for saving his life.
Sony Pictures optioned the film rights shortly after the publication of Richard Phillips's memoir A Captain's Duty in 2010. In March 2011, actor Tom Hanks attached himself to the project after reading a draft of the screenplay by Ray.[13] Director Paul Greengrass was offered the helm of the untitled film adaptation during the following June.[14]
A worldwide search subsequently began to find the film's supporting Somali cast. From this search, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, and Mahat M. Ali were chosen from among more than 700 participants at a 2011 casting call at the Brian Coyle Community Center in Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis. The four actors were selected, according to search casting director Debbie DeLisi, because they were "the chosen ones, that anointed group that stuck out."[15]
Producers visited the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum to see the bullet-scarred, five-ton fiberglass lifeboat aboard which the pirates held Capt. Phillips hostage so that they could accurately re-create the boat and interiors for the set.[N 1] They were also able to view an example of the Boeing Insitu ScanEagleUAV used to monitor the crisis,[17] as well as the Mark 11 Mod 0 (SR-25) sniper rifle (the type used by the U.S. Navy SEALs), both also on display at the museum.
The film score to Captain Phillips was composed by Henry Jackman.[23] A soundtrack album for the film was released in physical forms on October 15, 2013 by Varèse Sarabande.[24] Additional songs featured in the film include:[25]
Captain Phillips premiered on September 20, 2013, opening the 2013 New York Film Festival. The film was praised for its direction, screenplay, production values, cinematography, and the performances of Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi.[26][27][28]
Home media
Captain Phillips was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on January 21, 2014.[29]
Reception
Box office
Captain Phillips grossed $107.1 million in North America and $111.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $218.8 million, against its budget of $55 million.[2]
In the United States, the film grossed $25.7 million in its opening weekend, finishing second place at the box office behind Gravity ($43.2 million).[30] It made $16.4 million in its second weekend, remaining in second.[31]
The film was unable to secure a release in China, which caused Sony Pictures to be concerned about the profitability of the film.[32]
Based on information revealed in the Sony Pictures hack, the film made a net profit of $39 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[33]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 282 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smart, powerfully acted, and incredibly intense, Captain Phillips offers filmgoers a Hollywood biopic done right — and offers Tom Hanks a showcase for yet another brilliant performance."[34] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[35] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[30]
The film was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Actor in a Drama (Hanks), Best Supporting Actor (Abdi) and Best Director (Greengrass).[36] It did not win in any of the categories.[37] The film was also nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction (Greengrass), Best Actor (Hanks), Best Supporting Actor (Abdi), and Best Adapted Screenplay.[38] Abdi won the film's only award for Best Supporting Actor.[39] The film was also nominated for six Academy Awards - Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Abdi), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.[8] - though it did not win any of the categories.[9]
Film critic Top Ten lists
Various American critics have named the film as one of the best of 2013.[40]
Capt. Phillips was held captive in the lifeboat by pirates for five days.
In a New York Post article, some of the crew members of the Maersk Alabama accused the film of being inaccurate in facts and the portrayal of Phillips, claiming that Phillips was not as heroic as the film depicts him.[65] Mike Perry, the chief engineer of the Maersk Alabama, also asserted in a CNN interview that the film does not tell the true story.[66]
The film's director Paul Greengrass publicly stated that he "stands behind the authenticity of Captain Phillips", despite complaints of inaccuracy with how the film portrays the events surrounding the hijacking, and "at the end of the day, it is easy to make anonymous accusations against a film. But the facts are clear. Captain Phillips's ship was attacked, and the ship and the crew and its cargo made it safely to port with no injuries or loss of life. That's the story we told, and it's an accurate one."[67] Phillips's first mate Shane Murphy stated in an interview with Vulture published on October 13, 2013 that he was satisfied with how the movie portrayed both Phillips and himself, and stated that he was only disappointed that the film didn't show footage of the crews' families at home or the President's comments on the hijacking.[68]
The visual blog Information is Beautiful estimated that, while taking creative license into account, the film was 81.4% accurate when compared to real-life events and called it "pretty accurate".[69]
^"Movie Review: 'Captain Phillips'". CBS News. October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013. Captain Phillips is a biographical action thriller that takes its title from its central character, Richard Phillips (played by Tom Hanks), the real-life skipper of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship, who was taken hostage by a small band of Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean in 2009 while traveling around the Horn of Africa, in the first incident involving pirates capturing an American vessel in nearly 200 years.
^"Captain Phillips". IGN. The action-thriller Captain Phillips stars two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks in the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of a US-flagged cargo ship.
^"Film - Captain Phillips". Into Film. The disturbing reality of modern-day piracy is explored in this gripping action thriller, based on a true story, about the 2009 seizure of the Maersk Alabama.
