By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Barkhad Abdi | Barkhad Abdirahman | Faysal Ahmed | Mahet M. Ali | Tom Hanks
Country: united_states
Year: 2013
Running time: 134
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535109/combined
Kyle says: “CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is loud, fast, furious, vulgar and jingoistic. It will be a big hit and probably garner yet another Oscar nomination for Tom Hanks. You must take off your hat to the style, pace and command of technology exhibited by director Paul Greengrass. While someone behind me at the New York Film Festival’s Opening Night screening sniffled during the denouement, as the title character is treated for shock, my emotional reaction was solely sorrow for the fate of the Somali pirates. This is due in part to the outstanding performances by the four first-time actors named above, in part to the viciousness of metaphorical odds stacked militarily against them. Is American military cooperation acknowledged in the end titles intended as a warning to pirates and terrorists overseas?
“Since this is a big budget Hollywood production, I doubt this rant is proper for the purview of this group. Nonetheless, there must be a place for dissent about movies like this, what they portend for the future of Hollywood movies, and especially why they are programmed as opening night features for a supposedly cutting edge international film festival of the caliber of NYFF. Kent Jones, the new Programming Director for NYFF, gave a brief but pretentious justification for the delicate balance of art and commerce of CAPTAIN PHILLIPS that bordered on the insulting; everyone knows that scheduling films like this keeps the NYFF ‘fat cats’ happy that their money is going to a good cause. It may even be beside the point to mention that the appearance onstage of Alice Tully Hall — the best hall in NYC for both concerts and films — of both Tom Hanks and the real Captain Phillips, alive and well, eliminates all suspense about the outcome of the hijacking.
“During a climactic moment, Captain Phillips says to one of the pirates, ‘There’s gotta be something better than being a fisherman and kidnaping people.’ The response is, ‘Maybe in America.’ There is a much better movie out there about Somali pirates; it’s Danish and titled simply A HIJACKING. 2 cats”
“Friday, September 27, 2013, New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York.”