Captain Phillips is streaming on Netflix right now.
By Sckylar Gibby-Brown | Posted
Award-winning actor, Tom Hanks, has delivered countless incredible performances over the course of his career, and now audiences at home can watch one of his greatest performances of all time on Netflix. Without a doubt, the actor behind films like The terminal and Forrest Gump is one of the most beloved actors of all time. Now Tom Hanks’ 2013 biographical action thriller, Captain Phillips, is available for streaming.
Based on a true story, Captain Phillips concerns the diversion in 2009 of the Maersk Alabama, a freighter rounding the Horn of Africa. Hanks plays the main character, Captain Richard Phillips, a merchant seaman who has been taken hostage by Somali pirates. The screenplay was written by Billy Ray, who based his screenplay on Phillips’ book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Seawhat was released in 2010. Ray is best known for writing the teen action-adventure film, The hunger Games, and the historical drama, Broken glass.
The film asks the question: how does a merchant sea captain ensure the safety of his crew when bloodthirsty and money-hungry pirates commandeer the ship? The answer is that Captain Phillips must act carefully to outsmart the pirates and ensure everyone gets home. How he does this is what makes the movie so exciting to watch.
In real life, after escaping the pirates, one of Phillips’ crewmen chased after Phillips, claiming the captain was aware of the danger from the Somali pirates but sailed them through the overrun sea anyway because that this was the fastest way to deliver their cargo. At the end of the film, the credits tell the audience that Muse, the pirate captain, was captured and sentenced to 33 years in prison, and that Phillips returned to sea the following year.
Tom Hanks delivers a moving performance as Captain Phillips and co-star Barkhad Abdi received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of pirate leader Muse. The film also stars Barkhad Abdirahman as Bilal, one of Muse’s pirates. Captain Phillips was directed by Paul Greengrass, best known for directing other action thrillers like The Bourne Ultimatum and United 93.
When the film was released in October 2013, it was an instant hit. It grossed a total of $218.8 million and was made on a budget of $55 million. The film was the second highest-grossing film at the box office during its opening weekend, with only Gravity, with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the lead.
In addition to financial success, Tom Hanks’ adaptation of Captain Phillips was also a critical success, with Rotten Tomatoes calling it “yet another brilliant performance” from Hanks. The film received a 93% rating from over 282 critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with over 100,000 viewers rating it at 89%.
The film was nominated for numerous awards, including six Oscars, four Golden Globes and nine British Academy Film Awards. It has been recognized as one of the best screenplays, the best directed film, the best edited and the best acted film. However, Abdi picked up the film’s only winning award, a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.
