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Issue 56

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12 FILM guestlist.net Issue 56 / 2013 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Last year, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty did what many thought to be impossible. October 18th Last year, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty did what many thought to be impossible. A riveting account of the decade-long search for Osama Bin Laden, director Bigelow nimbly side-stepped threats of excessive patriotism or awkward flag-waving, instead delivering a taut and confident thriller that excelled most when filtering the action through its protagonist's personal motivations. Although there was obviously more at stake than Jessica Chastain's CIA officer achieving justice for those she may have lost along the way, this was always a given, and could afford to be relegated to the background. After all, it's the human connection that ultimately makes for electrifying cinema. This month's Captain Philips shares more than just a hint of Thirty's DNA, with director Paul Greengrass applying a similarly tasteful approach to a true story, this time to the 2009 hijacking of American container ship, the Maersk Alabama. Just in case the title didn't tip you off, this is very much the story of Captain Philips (Tom Hanks), a curt, efficient and ever so slightly jaded sailor who was taken hostage by the four invading Somali pirates. It was his remarkable sense of determination and resilience that allowed Philips to play a huge role in the story's outcome, all of which is demonstrated here with the precisely the kind of realism we've come to expect from Greengrass (the man behind both The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum). Like Zero Dark Thirty, there's a thrilling payoff when the Navy do finally arrive after the two hour mark. It's a wonderful, cathartic moment, but the film's real magic lies in the interaction between Hanks and newcomer Barkhad Abdi. As Muse, the skeletal, enigmatic pirate spearheading the operation, Abdi displays a wonderfully intense screen presence. He's a great match for Hanks, who does his best work in years in a brilliantly observed performance. Even when taken as a true story, Philip's evolution from sea dog to sea lion beggars belief, but in the hands of Hanks, it's a thoroughly convincing metamorphosis. Greengrass makes great use of the ship's interior to create a claustrophobic atmosphere, but he's just as adept at large-scale action sequences, as his Bourne pedigree should attest to. Like Bigelow's thriller, Captain Philips comes complete with an ending that should come as a surprise to no one, although Greengrass ensures the audience is too swept up in the drama to care. Expect Oscars by the boatload. MORE @ GUESTLIST.NET

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