Captain Phillips is a 2013 American biographical drama-thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. The film is inspired by the true story of the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, an incident during which merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by Somali pirates in the Guardafui Channel led by Abduwali Muse.
Plot
Richard Phillips takes command of MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship 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 practice drills. During a drill, the vessel is chased 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 – manned 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 best efforts of Phillips and his crew, the pirates secure their ladder to the Maersk Alabama. As they board, Phillips tells the crew to hide in the engine room and allows himself to be captured. He 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 cuts 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 and lose contact with their mother ship. Najee becomes agitated and tries to convince the others to kill Phillips. They are later intercepted by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge. Bainbridge’s captain Frank Castellano is ordered to prevent the pirates from reaching the Somali coast by any means necessary. 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 makes an attempt 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 have arrived 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 AK-47. Najee beats Phillips further and tries to convince Bilal and Elmi that he must be killed. The pirates tie up and blindfold Phillips, leaving him to say his final goodbyes. 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 and they simultaneously kill all three pirates. Muse is arrested and taken into custody for piracy. Phillips is rescued from the lifeboat and treated. Although in shock and disoriented, he thanks the rescue team for saving his life.
Cast
Tom Hanks (left) portrayed Richard Phillips (right).
Maersk Alabama crew and allies
Tom Hanks as Richard “Rich” Phillips / “Irish”, Captain
Catherine Keener as Andrea Phillips, Phillips’ wife
Michael Chernus as Shane Murphy, first officer
David Warshofsky as Mike Perry, chief engineer
Corey Johnson as Ken Quinn, helmsman
Chris Mulkey as John Cronan, senior crew member
Mark Holden as William Rios, boatswain
Angus MacInnes as Ian Waller, crew member
Louis Mahoney as Ethan Stoll, crew member
Vincenzo Nicoli as Andrew, crew member
Maria Dizzia as Allison McColl
John Magaro as Dan Phillips
Gigi Raines as Mariah Phillips
Riann Steele as Bernetti, US Maritime
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