Captain Phillips is a pulse-pounding dramatization of a real-life pirate attack and high-seas kidnapping off the coast of Somalia in 2009. There is a controversy over the portrayal of the captain as a hero, which some in the real crew dispute. If we can ignore that, this is a fast-paced survival thriller sharing the underpinnings of brawny American militarism with recent flicks like Argo and Zero Dark Thirty (Incidentally, Captain Phillips and Zero dark Thirty both involve daring military operations authorized by President Obama) but goes beyond them, at least for me, in terms of cinematic experience. Paul Greengrass’s quasi-documentary style with shaky handy-cams impart a sense of immediacy throughout and he keeps that alive for more than 2 hours ...

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