5. The Ending - Captain Phillips
Directed by Paul Greengrass, Tom Hanks truly shines within the final fifteen minutes of Captain Phillips, showing the tremendous depth of his talent. From the onset, Hanks plays Captain Phillips as a family man. Often working away, Phillips values his time with family, but like any other, knows he'll be coming back when his ship docks. But when his life hangs precariously in the hands of modern-day pirates, he soon realises what's at stake. When all his reasoning, bargaining and logical thought fails him, he frantically tries to pull back his life and jumps from the lifeboat into the sea. Plummeting into the irrational, Phillips claws his way back to life, but is soon dragged back to the lifeboat as the pirates' bargaining chip. Phillips life is now, truly, in the hands of his saviours. Believing all hope is lost, he takes his last chances when writing a heartfelt letter to his family. Emotions are let loose and, for the first time since he's been kidnapped, Phillips begins to cry. In a few short moments, the three pirates aboard the lifeboat are gunned down by three SEAL marksmen, while Phillips, blindfolded, is wailing both in pain and in shock in utter confusion at the state of events. From this moment on, the audience is privy to something that is quite astounding. As Phillips is escorted to the medical bay, he thanks those for saving him. Hanks stumbles, he's confused by the harsh lighting, and he mumbles answers to questions he didn't properly acknowledge. While the paramedic reassures him that his family know he's safe, Hanks slips Phillips into a state of wanting and needing to cry, and then quickly chokes it back as they ask him to lie down and breathe deeply. Hanks portrayal of Captain Phillips' traumatic shock is so magnificent that we're deeply drawn into his world, not from the knowledge that he's lucky to be alive, but rather that he is alive. Though Captain Phillips is based on a true story, it's the acting from Tom Hanks which creates such a riveting and harrowing tale, undeniably proving he's back in top form.