Paul Greengrass's Captain Phillips was celebrated as a smart and politically aware adaptation of the non-fictional novel of the same name, which chronicled the story of an American tanker ship which was taken hostage by Somali pirates. Greengrass and star Tom Hanks both received critical acclaim for their parts in the film, with a little applause left over for the first-time actors who played the pirates, who weren't depicted wholly as the scenery-chewing villains they easily could've been, but were also not entirely sympathetic. But how did it come to this for them? How did these young men become modern day pirates? That's the story that Fishing Without Nets tells, a facts-based rama produced by controversial magazine (and increasing multimedia presence) Vice. Cutter Hodierne directs in his feature debut, expanding on the short film of the same name from a couple of years prior. With natural performances from non-actors and a real world hook grounding everything, Fishing Without Nets explores the sort of ethical dilemmas brought up in many a superior crime film, with struggling patriarch Khadir being forced into piracy in order to provide for his family. But he isn't necessarily happy about it. Gorgeously shot and thoroughly engaging without engaging in trite thriller cliches, this is a brilliant and important film.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
