Pirates of the Deep Threaten U.S. Ship

'Captain Phillips'  Starring Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. Directed by Paul Greengrass..


    The American writer John Judis once pointed out that the world's countries are placed in a pecking order. At the top of the pile sits, naturally, the U.S of A. Its wealth and military might, even to-day, overawes most people. At the bottom squat the poorest countries like Moldova, Afghanistan and Somalia.
    'Captain Phillips' starring Tom Hanks as the captain of a huge cargo ship, points up Judis's idea. Phillips leaves his wife at the beginning of the film at an airport in Vermont. They live in a comfortable house but now Phillips heads off to the high seas. Hanks has a very good role here as a captain. A little chunkier and greyer than when I last saw him on the screen, Hanks remains a fine actor.
     Cut to Muse, a poor dark skinned man played by Barkhad Abdi. He lives in abject poverty in Somalia on the coast line of the Horn of Africa. He's a modern day pirate who rides with a gun in a broken down boat along with his friends. They capture ships like the one Phillips captains. .Probable ransom for releasing the captured ships? Six to nine million dollars.
      "Nice work if you can get it," that old song used to go. "And you can get it if you try." But the work is dangerous and violent.
      At last Phillips and Muse meet on the deck of Phillips's ship. But Muse is doomed after putting Phillips through hellish tortures. "There's got to be something more than being a fisherman and kidnapping someone," the captain says to Muse. But here there isn't.
     Director Paul Greengrass has given us a very competent thriller with small glimpses of the living conditions of the poverty-stricken Somalis. In the end though the massive military might of the United States comes through to kill and save the day. This is what happened in real life for this film is drawn from a true story.
     And what happens to the Somalis left behind in their sad villages? Alas, they just go on being poor or dying early as quite a few do in this film, unless of course they move to North America, as many already have. You can't blame them for coming here, especially if you've  viewed 'Captain Phillips'. At least I won't blame them for landing at our airports or on our shores. It sure beats living in Somalia.