2013 film by Paul Greengrass
Captain Phillips is a 2013 American biographical action-thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass. Based on the 2009 "Maersk Alabama" hijacking, the film tells the story of Captain Richard Phillips, an American merchant mariner who was taken hostage by Somali pirates. It stars Tom Hanks as Phillips, alongside Barkhad Abdi as pirate leader Abduwali Muse.
The screenplay by Billy Ray is based on Phillips's 2010 book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea", which Phillips co-wrote with Stephan Talty. Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca served as producers on the project. It premiered at the 2013 New York Film Festival, and was theatrically released on October 11, 2013. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, receiving acclaim from critics and grossing $218 million against a budget of $55 million. "Captain Phillips" received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Abdi.
Plot.
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. Navy destroyer . "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 gun.
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 tears, he thanks the rescue team for saving his life.
Production.
Development.
Columbia Pictures optioned the film rights for Richard Phillips' story in May 2009, just weeks after his rescue from the Somali pirates. A year later in April 2010, Phillips' memoir, "A Captain's Duty", was published. In March 2011, actor Tom Hanks attached himself to the project after reading a draft of the screenplay by Billy Ray. Director Paul Greengrass was offered the helm of the untitled film adaptation during the following June.
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."
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. They were also able to view an example of the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAV used to monitor the crisis, 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.
Filming.
Principal photography for "Captain Phillips" began on March 26, 2012. Filming took place off the coast of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine weeks were spent filming aboard "Alexander Maersk", a container ship identical to "Maersk Alabama." The container vessel was chartered on commercial terms with Maersk Line. , an and sister ship of USS "Bainbridge", served as a set piece in the film.
Music.
The film score to "Captain Phillips" was composed by Henry Jackman. A soundtrack album for the film was released in physical forms on October 15, 2013 by Varèse Sarabande. Additional songs featured in the film include:
Release.
Theatrical.
"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.
Home media.
"Captain Phillips" was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on January 21, 2014.
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.
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). It made $16.4 million in its second weekend, remaining in second.
The film was unable to secure a release in China, which caused Sony Pictures to be concerned about the profitability of the film.
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.
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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
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). It did not win in any of the categories. The film was also nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), including Best Film, Best Direction (Greengrass), Best Actor (Hanks), Best Supporting Actor (Abdi), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Abdi won the film's only award for Best Supporting Actor. 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 – though it did not win any of the categories.
Film critic Top Ten lists.
Various American critics have named the film as one of the best of 2013.
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Historical accuracy.
Since the film's release, there has been controversy over its portrayal of Captain Richard Phillips, with several crew members claiming that he was not the hero presented in the film, according to lawsuits filed by more than half of the crew of the "Maersk Alabama". The crew members claim Phillips was at least partly at fault, along with the shipping company and the ship operator, for an "insistence on being fast and making money ... [getting] the Alabama within 250 miles of the Somali coast..." The lawsuit was reportedly settled before it went to trial.
Phillips told CNN's Drew Griffin in 2010 and in a court deposition in 2013 that he ignored the numerous warnings that urged him to go farther out to sea. When asked in 2013 why he decided not to take the ship farther offshore, Phillips testified, "I don't believe 600 miles would make you safe. I didn't believe 1,200 miles would make you safe. As I told the crew, it would be a matter of when, not if ... We were always in this area." Between 2009 and 2011, pirates from Somalia had attacked ships as far away as 1,000 and even 1,300 nautical miles.
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.
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."
References.
Informational notes.
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Citations.
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