CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)

**2014 OSCAR NOMINEE**
The most nail-biting suspense of any film released in 2013 chronicles the true story of Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and his MV Maersk Alabama - the first American cargo ship to be hijacked by Somali pirates in over two hundred years - and the subsequent kidnapping of Phillips himself, leading to a nine-hour stand-off 145 miles off the Somali coast that grows increasingly tense, as the chances for either Phillips or the band of four ragtag hijackers to come out of it all alive dwindle badly.  While all the press is true about Hanks being so brilliant in the lead role, the revelation here is Barkhad Abdi; as Muse, leader of the desperate hijackers, he brings a sensitivity and sense of doomed fatality to the role that is as heartbreaking as any other Oscar-nominated performance this year.  Just be prepared to sit on your hands through the last 45 minutes especially, or you might find yourself chewing your fingernails down to the elbow.  Yeah - that suspenseful.  Also, hands down, one of 2013's very best. (rated PG-13)  *****

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS trailer