In the heart-thumping thriller Captain Phillips, a cargo ship navigates around the horn of Africa as a captain and his crew is commandeered by a rag-tag band of pirates, but this true story is no Disneyworld ride. 

Captain Phillips is as straightforward and hard-hitting as movies come—no over-embellishments, no tricks. The film is an ordeal that escalates, and keeps escalating, until you are left gasping for relief.

Within the first 20 minutes, both Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and his soon-to-be captor are established in the narrative in equal keel. 

Phillips makes his way to the airport with his wife (Catherine Keener) in town to see him off. It only takes that short drive to feel the poignant affection in their marriage and the worries that many parents share. Phillips’ wife is a nervous wreck over his mission to transport cargo, but there’s only a quick kiss and he’s gone.

We are then transported to the coast of Somalia. There, the tyrannical foundation of warlords runs rampant. Children and women scurry away while the men contend for the chance to prove worthiness of joining a pirate mission because otherwise, they might be killed.

One of these men is Muse, portrayed by Barkhad Abdi in his first role, who becomes captain of the small group that overtakes Captain Phillips’ ship with a meager skiff and ladder.

None of the boat’s security measures – locks, power hoses and the like – are enough to keep them out.

Director Paul Greengrass steers the film’s events in the same successful way as he did with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum: with an imperative documentary style and commanding performances from his actors.

If we can all collectively remember the greatness of The Bourne Supremacy for a moment (not the crappy, Jeremy Renner latest), then it can be seen how Greengrass perfectly captures a sense of urgency. The slight movements of the camera tie audiences to the film, almost as if they had a hand in the filmmaking. Inevitably, this tactic lends to the tense, stressful experience of seeing one of Greengrass’s films. Captain Phillips is no different.

The reason to see Captain Phillips, though, is not for the shock and terror of modern-day pirates but for the enthralling experience when Phillips and Muse’s fates become intertwined.

Phillips, a long-time captain, is represented as a steadfast leader and wily under pressure, while Muse struggles to prove he even deserves the title of captain.

As soon as the pirates swarm the ship, it becomes one hell of a power struggle, with Muse leading the bull by the horns. His true desires, though, seem to be far more reaching than his other comrades.

He has a kindness about him that is reaffirmed by his constant assurances to Phillip – or “Irish,” his pet name. Everything is going to be fine, he says. Everything will be easy. Everything will be simple.

Of course, it gets complicated trying to accept that side of Muse when he has an AK-47 in his hands. Not to mention when he takes the concept of an “easy” ransom into waters of total insanity that mean involving the U.S. Navy and a SEAL team.

But the character also seems to have a strange, unlikely trust in Americans and the “American Dream” in particular.

Muse reveals to Phillips and to the audience that in Somalia doing anything other than piracy is impossible. It’s not a choice so much as it is a bleak calling. But by the film’s end—if it wasn’t apparent before—it’s clear that the American Dream is a pipe dream rather than an actual one, failing those who really believe in its power.

Hanks and Abdi, much like their characters in the film, are polar opposites. One (Hanks) has the acting experience of 20-plus years and the other (Abdi) has none at all. Nonetheless, this unlikely duo has produced the best movie dynamic of the year. When they look each other square in the eyes and seem to understand exactly what the other is made of, it’s hard not to be amazed by their relationship.

Captain Phillips is a thousand-pound-cement-block of a film that continues to bear down on you, as you hope, wish and beg to be released from its torment.