I know, I know, Captain Phillips has been out for months.  But getting to a movie theatre takes an immense amount of effort for me (you actually have to show up at a certain place at a certain time and sit in the dark for 2 hours).  Reserved seating helps some, though.

This time, I didn’t see Captain Phillips in the theatre but on a plane.  And my opinion is that the movie was seriously snubbed by the Academy Awards.   Even though you know how the movie ends (or you do if you pay attention to current events), the suspense the movie generates is impressive.  And, in fact, the rescue of the captain is not the focal point of the movie.  Instead, the movie focuses on the motivation of the Somali pirates and the interplay between the captain and his captors.

Tom Hanks does his usual masterful acting job as the captain, and the supporting cast, especially the actor who plays the lead pirate, Muse, is strong.  Fans of the erstwhile television show, “The Unit,” will be amused to know that the actor who played the Delta Force member, Mac (Max Martini) plays the Navy SEAL leader in this movie.

If I had one quibble about this movie, it would be that the writers try to play on our sympathies for the Somali pirates.  I recognize that they have fewer options to scrape out a living than we do in the United States, but picking up a gun and robbing/extorting/threatening merchant vessels and their crews is not the answer.  And I was a tad resentful that the writers would try to be quite that manipulative.

But, as I said, that would be quibbling.  Overall, the movie is well written and well paced with excellent acting from all the principals.

I rate Captain Phillips as an excellent movie and give it a solid A.